The 'psychological' issue threatening Leeds United promotion rivals

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Burnley moved into second in the table on Tuesday night but there remains a concern as the Clarets battle for automatic promotion

Burnley may have moved to within two points of Leeds United, albeit having played a game more, but their win over struggling Oxford United did little to shake off a problem that continues to blight the Whites’ fellow promotion chasers.

That bore draw between the now top two sides in the Championship last week is still very much in the memory for all the wrong reasons and the issues around Burnley’s clear lack of goals has not really subsided since then.

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It’s possible that the arrival of attacking talent could change the Clarets’ fortunes but up until last night, Scott Parker’s side had registered three scoreless draw in a row at home went into the Oxford match off the back of another away to Portsmouth at the weekend.

Burnley did finally find the net but even then, it took an own goal from U’s defender Michal Helik to secure the victory that saw them overtake Sheffield United on goal difference.

Now, Parker believes that all the talk surrounding their problems in finding the net could be hampering his attacking players as they did at least create a lot more chances than in previous games, with 15 efforts on goal, seven of those on target

“Maybe it’s a psychological element a little bit because of the general noise around it, human nature is sometimes maybe that noise gravitates a bit and snowballs, that maybe could be the case,” Parker said, on a night when the home supporters ironically chanted ‘We’ve scored a goal!’ following Helik’s OG.

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“We missed some good chances, that’s clear. I’m more pleased we had those big chances, in the right positions, that conviction about us, not hiding, putting yourself on offer to miss that chance is key for me as a coach. We did that, and we didn’t execute.”

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