Christmas No 1 pleases Burnley chief Dyche

Burnley manager Sean Dyche admitted he could not fault his side’s efforts as they ensured they enjoy Christmas Day top of the Championship.

Scott Arfield delivered a superb curling effort into the far corner to claim the local bragging rights for Burnley, after top-scorer Danny Ings had continued his fine scoring form by snatching his 17th goal of the season to put his side in front early on.

Blackpool were never out of the reckoning and Craig Cathcart levelled the scores with a header.

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But Arfield lifted the stands and sent the Seasiders crashing to their fourth successive Sky Bet Championship defeat.

“I thought we delivered another very good performance,” said Dyche. “We looked solid defensively, had good energy and we always looked a threat going forward.

“We scored two fantastic goals and showed some excellent quality. It is important to find different ways of winning and then deliver them.

“I am really pleased with the attitude of the side. We put good balls in to the front men and our passing was nice and slick.

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“We were very dominant for the first 20 minutes of the match but Blackpool managed to get a foothold.

“But in the second half we continued to do the basics well and used the ball wisely.

“We hurt Blackpool in a lot of different ways. We fought and we competed and Scott Arfield has scored a sublime goal.

“A draw would have been a fair result but a lack of concentration early in the second half has cost us,” said Blackpool manager Paul Ince. “We are killing ourselves and there isn’t much in this league between any of the teams.

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“To be fair, we have ourselves to blame because we didn’t get the basics right after the break after an outstanding first-half.

“We are not going to be up there with the big boys and it is frustrating because we aren’t far away from turning that corner but to lose four on the bounce is disappointing.”

Burnley: Heaton,Trippier, Duff, Shackell,Mee, Jones, Marney, Kightly (Treacy 86), Ings, Arfield, Vokes. Unused substitutes: Lafferty, Stanislas, Cisak, Edgar, Stock, Long.

Blackpool: Gilks, Basham, Cathcart, Broadfoot, Robinson, Ince, Gosling, Dobbie (Zeegelaar 78), Ferguson, Bishop, Davies (Chopra 69). Unused substitutes: Warner, Barkhuizen, Harris, Blackett.

Referee: R East (Wiltshire).

Man of the match: Scott Arfield.