Dan Black's verdict: There are bigger triumphs ahead for Burnley — but we should still celebrate the small wins along the way

There are bigger triumphs to come, and likely loftier revelries to follow, but we should still celebrate the small victories along the way.

Burnley look like upgrading the inflatable trophy they won when securing the Championship title back in 2015/16 and they could do it by emulating or, even, eclipsing the 23-game unbeaten run under Sean Dyche.

And, after coming through tricky tests against Luton Town and Millwall relatively unscathed, they remain on course to become only the sixth second tier side to win promotion to the Premier League with 100-plus points.

Vincent Kompany's side couldn't quite leave the Lions' Den without a scratch, or a bite mark, along the way, but there was still evidence to suggest that the runaway league leaders are head and shoulders above anyone else at this level.

Gary Rowett was the latest to coo over the Clarets after his play-off hopefuls managed to salvage a point, despite finishing the game with just 29 percent possession.

The ex-Derby County, Leicester City and Birmingham City defender had seen his players blow promotion-chasing Sheffield United out of the water just days earlier.

But they hadn't been a match for Burnley, until substitute Tom Bradshaw, who had bagged a hat-trick against the Blades, completed the 'smash and grab' with just five minutes remaining.

Energy expenditure against Paul Heckingbotham's men was a caveat for the home side's subservience on this occasion, though that excuse from the former Stoke City manager carried very little weight given the demands placed on his opposition at Kenilworth Road.

"I think to play as well as we did against Sheffield, to use so much energy up, and I think that’s always hard to show the same energy, if not even more, against a Burnley team that move the ball so well.

"They just find space so well, and I just felt early on you could see we just didn’t quite have the same zip as we did in the Sheffield United game."

The Clarets are now 12 points clear of second place, having played a game more, and 16 points clear of in-form Middlesbrough, who remain third.

They're averaging 2.2 points-per-game which, if continued, would see them culminate the campaign in triple-figures, matching Newcastle United's 102-point return from 2009/10.

And they're actually ahead of the curve in comparison to the Magpies, who had amassed four points fewer than Burnley at this stage of the season.

Glen Little had told me on more than one occasion that he was "worried" about his record with Reading being cracked, as he'd featured 35 times for the Royals in 2005/06, scoring five goals, when hitting 106 points.

Burnley are nine points off the pace on that front, so surpassing the record-holders would take some doing, but they're in the running when measured against the others to reach that three-figure milestone.

Fulham, who lost their 33rd game of their 2000/01 title-winning term to Burnley, when Little netted an 88th minute winner at Turf Moor after Ian Moore had cancelled out a Barry Hayles finish, were on 75 points at this stage.

Leicester City were on 74 after 33 games in a season (2013/14) where they had the Clarets back in second spot, while Sunderland had only amassed 70 before collecting 35 points in their final 13 fixtures in 1998/99.

Kompany said: “To make this result count, because I think one all is a good result and four points over those is a good result, to make it count we need to go and step it up again in the next games, especially with the home games we’ve got coming up.

"I'm happy, but never satisfied. The guys have done well, they've exceeded all expectations, but now they've created new expectations, and I enjoy pushing them, I enjoy this relentless feeling of getting to the next level. I'm on this journey with my players."

Dyche's champions had just completed the 10th game of their 23-game unbeaten run when holding their achievements — from seven seasons ago — adjacent to that from the 'Class of 22/23'.

Sam Vokes had converted the only goal of the game, beating Dorus De Vries in the 68th minute, as they edged out Nottingham Forest at home. However, that was only the 62nd point they'd pocketed that season, which puts the current crop well ahead in comparison.

What this group continues to achieve, in their very first season of assembly, deserves considerable recognition, even after this misfortune and frustration of conceding late on in South London.

They had toyed with their hosts who, incidentally, are statistically the fifth best team in the division. They were off the back of a big result, which was their third win in five fixtures, and had just stretched their unbeaten run in Bermondsey to 10 games.

The visitors, just as they'd done at Stoke City and many other rivals beforehand, forced Millwall to dance to their tune, setting themselves up in a manner that forced the home side to adjust.

Goal-scorer Ashley Barnes, reborn and reinvented, dropped team as a 'false nine' to occupy Jamie Shackleton and George Saville, leaving the hosts vulnerable at the back as Scott Twine exploited pockets of space, under minimal pressure, while Anass Zaroury and Vitinho could get the ball high and wide, isolating the full backs, as Millwall were unable to press the ball in the right areas.

Rowett identified: “They play round you so well when you try and press so we had a few issues early on. I think they play Barnes and Twine and just try to play them a little bit deeper with the two wingers really wide.

"What happened was, Sav and Shacks were so pre-occupied by the two forwards that we ended up playing four against two and when you do that we haven’t got an extra body to join the press and to get a little bit closer and they played around us a couple of times.

“It looked a bit like we were sitting in but we weren’t intending to. It was just the way they caused us that problem, so first half we had some moments to break. I thought they’re a very difficult side to get in behind and to time those runs in behind.

“It just felt a little bit like hard work in the first half and it felt like fleeting moments rather than periods of pressure we had at the weekend. They’re a good side, they’re the best side in the league. They move the ball better than anyone else in the league."

Burnley were only able to match Millwall's three shots on target, but that doesn't tell the full story of their dominance.

The Clarets closed aggressively, suffocating the man on the ball, and turned over possession in areas that had brought a fragility to the hosts.

Scott Twine and Anass Zaroury robbed Shackleton and Saville respectively to set up two early chances.

A better pass from Barnes would've seen Zaroury score the first, as the angle became slightly compromised and Long was able to save.

Twine then dragged wide of the upright from a central position outside the box; a situation he'd scored from so many times for MK Dons.

Last season's League One Player of the Year did the same again later in the half before Zaroury miscued from Vitinho's delivery.

The breakthrough came in the 51st minute when the away side worked the ball from left to right, Twine's effort from Vitinho's assist was blocked by Charlie Cresswell, and Barnes powered home the loose ball from close range.

Josh Brownhill, who opened his account for the club with a thunderbolt away at Millwall in the EFL Cup a couple of years ago, went within the width of a post from extending Burnley's lead when getting on the end of Vitnho's cross while Ian Maatsen forced Long to save at the foot of his upright having cut onto his left foot.

However, just a couple of minutes after Kompany had made a double change, with Jack Cork and Charlie Taylor replacing Zaroury and Maatsen, the home side forced an equaliser.

Zian Flemming whipped the ball back into the box after George Honeyman's corner had been partially cleared and Bradshaw pounced after the ball had ricocheted off Hjalmar Ekdal.

The desperation of the home fans for the sound of referee James Linington's whistle during seven minutes of time added on, and the jubilant scenes that followed, tells you everything you need to know about Burnley's stock at this level.