'Total irrelevance' - Scott Parker's brutally honest verdict on Leeds United and Sheffield United results

Scott Parker has ‘no interest’ in the results of Burnley’s Championship promotion rivals as they look to make up ground on Leeds United and Sheffield United this weekend.

The current top two increased their respective gaps on Burnley following an 11th 0-0 draw of the campaign for Parker’s side at Preston North End on Saturday. Sheffield United briefly went top with a 1-0 win at Luton Town before Leeds climbed back into first with a dramatic 2-1 comeback win over Sunderland on Monday night.

Burnley are now five points behind Sheffield United and seven short of league leaders Leeds but with the pair meeting at Bramall Lane on Monday, the third-placed Clarets can shorten the gap on at least one promotion rival. But Parker has firmly warned against his players becoming embroiled in the ups and downs of a promotion race.

“I only said it to the players this morning, I'll never jump on a rollercoaster of what this league and this season brings,” Parker told the Burnley Express as his side prepare to host Sheffield Wednesday on Friday evening. “I've got real no interest in what our competitors are doing, certainly at this point in the season. What Leeds and Sheffield United are doing is just an absolute irrelevance to me.

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“Our focus is that, if we're not going to win enough games to generate enough points, then the facts are we're not going to be successful or get to where we need to get to. We can't jump on that rollercoaster of emotion over a weekend looking at what other teams are doing or what they're not doing. Five points, six points, whatever the gap is, it's a total irrelevance to me.

“The main focus is every game we go into, can we win? Can we get three points? And by the time we get to April, that may be a different story. Don't get me wrong. But at this present moment in time, 13 games left, I think there are many, many more stories and there's many more scenarios that we're going to be facing and you're going to be asking me week in, week out. It is what it is. Let's go and win games and try and win as many as we can.”

Victory for Burnley on Friday evening would put them within touching distance of Sheffield United in second, and if Leeds follow that up with a win at Bramall Lane the pressure will be on Chris Wilders’ side, who still have to go to Turf Moor at the end of April. But Parker refused to be drawn on whether three points for his side would have a psychological effect on those above.

“I can't tell you what's going to happen on Monday, and who they play, when they play, what's going to happen if so-and-so win, it means this, or... honestly, there's 13 games left and at this moment in time, I can guarantee you that there will be many more scenarios come up,” the Burnley boss added. “I've always said it, the most stable teams, the ones that don't get on rollercoasters, and the ones with the most stable and consistent behaviours are normally the ones that give themselves the best opportunity.

“We're getting to the point in the season where if there's one thing I want to guarantee, or I want my players to be, is fully focused on each game. Cliché as it sounds, there's no truer words and that's what my experience tells me. My experience tells me that you need a stable team, you need a group of men and players that don't get involved and don't jump on the rollercoaster for 90 minutes of football that someone else is playing, or a weekend of football where there's two games going on, what may affect you.

“Just don't jump on the rollercoaster. Just stay off it. Let someone else get on that if they want to. Just stay focused on what we need to do.”