'Burnley are best Championship team I've seen in 25 years - I'm glad Huddersfield Town don't have to play them again' - Neil Warnock

Warnock’s side remain four points adrift of safety after the defeat, as their hosts extended their unbeaten league run to 14 matches.

Ashley Barnes scored Burnley’s opener while Connor Roberts and Josh Brownhill added goals before half-time, with substitute Michael Obafemi scoring a fourth in the second half.

Warnock said: “I learned more about my team today than I did last week. We’ve got 13 games left, which are winnable. We haven’t got another Burnley, thank God.

“To come off at the end of the game and the league table’s not changed, I think that’s a plus, having got Burnley out of the way. We could have been eight points adrift, or something like that. In the final 13 games, we haven’t got another Burnley. So I’m quite optimistic now.”

Warnock, who lost defender Josh Ruffels to a bug on Saturday morning, praised his team’s character in the second half.

He said: “At half-time, they could easily have gone under. I said at half-time, look, we’ve got a great bunch of fans today, they’re all disappointed like you are, but we can’t be getting beaten five or six, we’ve got to stick at our tasks and show a bit of guts, and I thought we did.”

Warnock had suggested before the game that Burnley were the best Championship side he had seen in 25 years.

He said: “We gave them two early goals. I don’t think Vincent Kompany gets enough credit for what they’ve done. He brought a lot of players in and changed the style.

“What I like about Burnley is that they know if they’ve got to battle, they’ve got to battle. That team could easily play in the Premier League now. It’s very exciting for Burnley.”

Burnley: Muric, Roberts, Ekdal, Beyer (Vitinho 79), Maatsen (Taylor 59), Cullen, Brownhill (Obafemi 68), Tella (Twine 79), Gudmundsson, Zaroury, Barnes (Foster 68). Unused substitutes: Cork, Peacock-Farrell.

Huddersfield Town: Bilokapic, Edmonds-Green, Lees, Helik, Headley, Kasumu (High 46), Camara, Hungbo (Diarra 46), Rudoni, Koroma, Ward (Waghorn 75). Unused substitutes: Vaclik, Hogg, Rhodes, Boyle.

Referee: M Donohue (Lancashire).