Dan Black's verdict as Burnley beat Coventry City to continue on their path to infinity and beyond!

The young Sint-Truiden defender was depicted as Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear for Friday's big reveal on the club's social media channels.

And the Baghdad-born centre back was in the stands at Turf Moor on Saturday as the Clarets continued on their path to infinity, and beyond!

Fittingly, it was fellow centre half Jordan Beyer, the other half of a potential future partnership, that gave Vincent Kompany's side 'lift off' against Coventry City.

The on loan Borussia Monchengladbach ace's headed finish from an 82nd minute Johann Berg Gudmundsson corner had a sprinkling of star dust as the Championship leaders' chances of an instant return to the Premier League sky-rocketed.

His first goal for the club, which complemented the table toppers' 10th clean sheet of the campaign, carried the Clarets into a 16-point advantage over third place Watford, who finally usurped Blackburn Rovers.

"He [Beyer] is very coachable and he definitely has the physical attributes to play as a centre back and as a full back, but mainly as a centre back in the system we play," Kompany had said, in his pre-match press conference in the media centre at Gawthorpe.

"We usually defend quite high from our goal so, even in the centre of our defence, mobility is important. That's why these types of profiles usually end up playing in these positions as well for us.

"In the end he's just developed into a very complete centre back; he wins his headers, he's managing his distances well, his reading and understanding of the game has improved a lot. Then, you can add on top of that the fact that he gives us what he shows every weekend on the ball. He's been good, but he can still get better."

Burnley are blessed with an array of match-winners. Jay Rodriguez, Nathan Tella, Manuel Benson and Anass Zaroury might have 29 goals between them, but Josh Cullen, Ian Maatsen and, now, Beyer have been the difference in recent weeks.

The nation's highest scorers have shared their 53 finishes between 15 different players, which has been central to their overwhelming success in the second tier. They've also had 16 individuals contributing to the assists for those goals.

It has been a clinical and collective masterclass, but those attributes don't just underpin the team's personality in the final third of the pitch, they convey the character of the group from front to back.

The division's best outfit to date, having preserved their five-point lead over Sheffield United, weren't at their best against the Sky Blues, but they're proving that they don't always have to be to pick up points at this level.

Their 'graft' when out of possession is proving just as valuable as their 'craft' on the ball. It's the siege mentality from this brilliant band of brothers — when digging their heels in in the trenches — that's making it difficult for the opposition to capitalise on their brief moments of dominance.

Mark Robins' men had some bright spells in the game, but the fact that Arijanet Muric survived another 90 minutes without making a meaningful save speaks volumes of the operation being deployed in front of him.

The home side ensured the highly-impressive Viktor Gyokeres' xG was at the bottom end of the scale, forcing the division's second highest scorer to do all his good work in non-threatening areas of the pitch, snuffing out his threat, even if it took three or four attempts to do so at times.

When Kasey Palmer broke into the penalty area, he had Jack Cork for company, applying the pressure from behind, before Charlie Taylor and man of the match Ian Maatsen closed in, with the latter making a vital intervention.

And when Gyokeres was handed a clear route on goal from Beyer's under-hit back pass, both Taylor and Maatsen recovered again, retreating to their goal-line as Josh Brownhill slid in to dispossess the Swede.

It's been a recurring theme this season, particularly since the restart, as the Clarets have grown to become a more complete team, which pleases Kompany no end.

"Those players have always got the heart," he said. "There are a couple of moments where Ian [Maatsen] goes to ground, tackled, then he's completely out of the picture, and it allows them to build momentum and get the overload on the counter.

"But if you look at the end picture we've got 10 players coming back. Even when it's not good, who am I to criticise? I just support them.

"It's massive. At that moment [when Gyokeres went through] it would have been really unfortunate because we were as good as we had been in the game.

"That ball goes back — we had a similar moment against Middlesbrough when the ball goes in, something out of nothing, a lack of concentration — but Browny's recovery pace helped us."

The SkyBet Championship Manager of the Month for December continued: "That's a trend for us this season; eventually you take the tactic board and you put it away, then you start showing them images from my side.

"There's a corner against Bournemouth where we give it away and there are 10 players sprinting back like lunatics. As long as that's in the team, we'll be on the right track, we'll be competitive.

"It [another clean sheet] is very good, especially because it was a tough one today. We needed it, without the clean sheet we don't come away with the result."

Kompany accepted that Burnley hadn't been good enough in the first half. His fear of a 'docile' performance came to light in the first 45 minutes, as they relinquished command to their visitors.

But they responded after the break, pressing high, aggressively, turning over possession in key areas of the pitch, looking after the ball, running in behind and, as Kompany suggested, playing on a ‘knife edge’.

They were able to do that by utilising their squad, withdrawing the already booked Jack Cork, and introducing the likes of Ashley Barnes, Nathan Tella and Gudmundsson, who had proved his worth in the number 10 role during the FA Cup triumph at Bournemouth.

The Icelander excelled again, altering the course of the game. He teed up Manuel Benson, who was off-target when Jay Rodriguez had allowed the substitute’s cross to run, and then he swung in the cross, having peeled off to the left hand side for a second time, that resulted in Tella’s header being repelled by Ben Wilson.

His final act was to supply the corner for Beyer’s winner. "It was massive,” concluded Kompany. “At half time we felt that we had to be much more aggressive and play on a knife edge.

"Corky already had a yellow and couldn't play on that knife edge and that is why we brought on Joey, knowing what he can bring going forward, as well as Nathan and Barnesy with what they have done when they came on. And I could have put another two or three on the pitch that I thought could help us.

"I think that helped change the game a bit. We had the better options off the bench to strengthen whereas Coventry had to deal with a big number of players that weren't there and that was a difference.”

He added: “This team is resourceful and — regardless of where we're at in the league right now — it's important for us to keep our standards high and to keep being demanding.

"There are no complaints on any of the other guys who started because they've been unbelievable for us this season, but sometimes other players have got to take over. It allows us to have a good performance. You felt it as soon as they came on, they wanted that responsibility, which is important.

"Sometimes players can get swallowed up by the intensity of the occasion, but they demanded the ball, looked after it, and then all of a sudden we created a different type of threat, with Nathan Tella's runs in behind, which killed any momentum for them. It gave us more control of the game.”

Burnley have now scored in 24 Championship games on the bounce, they’ve won seven successive league games, nine consecutive home games in all competitions, and remain unbeaten at Turf Moor this season.

Come in, Star Command. Do you read me? We’re on a mission to the top flight!