Derby County 0-0 Burnley: Clarets unable to find the answers and drop priceless points

A scrappy encounter more than suited the hosts, who made life difficult for Scott Parker’s men with a bombardment of corners and long throws into the Burnley box.

The Clarets had initially begun the game strongly and created two or three good openings, coming closest through Zian Flemming whose goalbound effort was superbly tipped wide.

But the visitors otherwise struggled to create much of note against a stubborn Rams side, who held Burnley to their 12th 0-0 draw of the season - and their first since the stalemate at Deepdale in mid-February.

With Sheffield United losing at home to Millwall, suffering a second consecutive defeat, the damage has been somewhat limited, with the Clarets remaining two points ahead of third place.

Parker opted to make just one change to his side from the team that overcame Coventry City 2-1 at the weekend.

Despite setting up Jaidon Anthony’s first goal, Lyle Foster dropped back down to the bench in favour of Zian Flemming.

The Clarets otherwise remain unchanged with their bench also remaining the same – meaning Manuel Benson missed out again after being left out against Coventry with an ankle problem suffered in training.

Jordan Beyer, Bashir Humphreys, Jonjo Shelvey, Aaron Ramsey, Enock Agyei and Mike Tresor all remain sidelined.

As for Derby, Jerry Yates returned after being ineligible to face his parent club Swansea City on Saturday, as the Rams fell to a 1-0 defeat.

The game got off to a slow start, as Burnley probed for a way through a well-drilled Derby side - as the visitors will have been expecting from a John Eustace side.

We had to wait until the 17th minute for the first attempt on goal and it came Burnley’s way, as Zian Flemming’s goalbound effort was expertly tipped wide by Derby keeper Jacob Zetterstrom.

The forward did superbly to bring the ball down in the box to begin with, before settling himself to arrow a fierce drive towards the top corner.

Marcus Edwards was the next man to try his luck after embarking on an exceptional mazy run into the Derby box, but his eventual shot was just off target.

The away side slowly but surely began to crank up the pressure as Flemming headed over from Lucas Pires’ lofted cross.

The chances continued to come their way, as Flemming instinctively lobbed wide after a defensive mix-up between the centre-back and the keeper, similar to the error that led to Burnley’s second at Coventry on Saturday.

For all their dominance, Burnley were given a quick reminder of Derby’s threats when Josh Laurent had to be on hand to make a timely block to deny Yates, just as the striker was about to pounce eight yards from goal.

The Clarets had to withstand some Derby pressure as the first half came to an end, with some corners and long throws hurled straight into the danger area.

Parker’s side looked a little shaky, it has to be said, but the half-time whistle came at a good time for them, just as the Rams were picking up some momentum.

Then again, the second-half continued in a similar vein, with Derby bombarding the Burnley box and making the game as scrappy as possible.

The Clarets were eventually able to wrestle back some sort of control, but lacked ideas and invention once they approached the Derby box.

The visitors didn’t threaten the Derby goal until midway through the second-half when Flemming curled an ambitious effort wide from range.

Lyle Foster was the first Burnley change, but only lasted three minutes after being forced off with a serious-looking arm or shoulder injury. The striker looked distraught as he made his way off the pitch and had to be consoled by Parker before he headed down the tunnel.

If the first-half was scrappy, the second-half was far from a classic with clear-cut chances on low supply.

Ten minutes from time, Lucas Pires tried his luck from range with a drilled effort on his weaker right foot, but it was always rising and comfortably cleared the crossbar.

Burnley looked the more likely to make something happen during the dying stages, but even then chances remained in short supply.

That was until the first of eight minutes of time added on, when Matt Clarke somehow managed to head wide for Derby from barely a couple of yards out.

With Burnley throwing men forwards, Maxime Esteve was then required to make a crucial recovery run to stop Yates from surging through on goal.

While this remained a frustrating night at the office in the East Midlands, it easily could have been much worse.

TEAMS

Derby: Zetterstrom, Wilson, Langas (Jackson), Phillips, Clarke, Forsyth, Armstrong, Adams, Thompson (Goudmijn), Harness (Mendez-Laing), Yates

Subs not used: Vickers, Pieters, Wheeldon, Hendrick, Rooney, Barkhuizen

Burnley: Trafford, Roberts, Egan-Riley, Esteve, Pires, Cullen, Laurent (Foster, Hannibal), Brownhill, Edwards (Barnes), Anthony, Flemming

Subs not used: Hladky, Worrall, Sonne, Koleosho, Redmond, Sarmiento

Referee: Robert Madley

Attendance: 27,584