Burnley manager Sean Dyche insists his surprising side deserve to be top of the Championship after defeating promotion rivals QPR 2-0 at Turf Moor.
QPR were unbeaten in their 11 previous league matches, but Danny Ings struck twice in the second half to shatter that impressive record and move the Clarets three points clear at the top of the table on Saturday.
Ings opened the scoring in the 66th minute with a powerful shot from inside the penalty area and the 21-year-old sealed the points when he struck from the penalty spot in the 88th minute after being fouled by Joey Barton.
It was an emphatic victory for a team few pundits tipped for promotion before the start of the season, with many still expecting them to fall away.
But Dyche is confident the win over a team of QPR's class shows they can last the pace in the promotion race.
"I'm delighted with the tactical framework of the team, the effervescence of the team but most of all the quality of the team, which I was thought was excellent," Dyche said.
"The first goal was fit to grace most pitches, the pace of it and the quality of the finish.
"I thought we played really well first half and had some good half-chances. But I said to the players at half-time that they'd have to go even harder because QPR are not an easy group of players to crack.
"However, to deliver that performance and win in that fashion, it's right up there as one of my best days here."
QPR manager Harry Redknapp left the post-match duties to assistant manager Kevin Bond, who admitted the Londoners had been outclassed in key departments and paid the price for failing to take their chances, highlighting a late Richard Dunne miss as critical.
"Credit to Burnley, they stopped us from playing, which we knew they'd always do because they work extremely hard," Bond said.
"I'm just disappointed we weren't able to play through that initial pressure. In the end, when we did get on the ball we then gave it away.
"It was a top-of-the-table clash and we wanted to lay a marker down, so obviously it is disappointing.
"We can't really complain because we had chances and never took them."
Leicester manager Nigel Pearson was delighted to see his strikers get on the scoresheet as the Foxes beat 10-man Bournemouth 2-1 to go second in the table above QPR.
David Nugent and Jamie Vardy scored a goal in each half to keep Leicester's fine home run going.
"I was really pleased with how we went about the game. We always looked dangerous in wide areas and have strikers who have good energy levels," Pearson said.
"It was good for both strikers to get on the scoresheet."
A last-minute Steve Davies own-goal handed Blackburn a point against fourth placed Blackpool in a fiery 2-2 draw which ended with both sides down to 10 men.
Fifth-placed Reading were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Millwall at the Madejski Stadium.
Yeovil climbed off the bottom of the table after a surprise 3-1 home win against sixth-placed Nottingham Forest.
Elsewhere, Huddersfield beat Yorkshire rivals Leeds 3-2, while Sheffield Wednesday slipped to the bottom of the table following their 1-1 draw at Barnsley.
Bolton drew 1-1 with Ipswich and Derby shared a 1-1 draw with Birmingham.
Source: AFP
