HAVING seen two-goal leads turn into defeat in their previous two games, Burnley were on the receiving end of a lesson in how to kill a game in that position from Sunderland.

The Black Cats twice took advantage of some porous Clarets defending in the first half to establish the lead, and then slowed the game down so much in the second half that it was hard to tell at times if it was still going on.

When the Premier League next try and flog TV rights for the ‘greatest league in the world’ to overseas broadcasters, this match certainly won’t make the showreel.

Afterwards Sean Dyche revealed Danny Ings almost didn’t start the game after a whirlwind 24 hours in which he was linked with a move to Liverpool and a Turf Moor return on loan, only to then learn such a move was impossible.

In truth it felt like the speculation had affected the whole team. For a side who rely so heavily on their energy and ability to cover ground, it was a performance lacking in intensity.

The biggest concern for Dyche, though, will be the habit his team have developed of conceding soft goals. It could not have come at a worse time.

The build-up to both of Sunderland’s goals was almost identical. Creative passers were given too much time on the ball just outside the area to find runs from the full-backs which went untracked.

It was far too easy for the Wearsiders to get into those positions, and to survive in this league you have to make it much tougher for the opposition.

When the Clarets broke their Premier League duck with a 1-0 win over Hull on November 8, it was their fourth clean sheet in 11 games.

While results have improved since then there has been just one clean sheet in 14, in the win over Southampton, and 16 goals have been shipped in the last seven games.

It’s a record that needs improving in the final 15 league games if Burnley are to pick up enough points to secure a second season in the top flight.

Dyche and his players never deviate from their ‘one game at a time’ mantra and wouldn’t attach extra significance to a match, whether it was against a relegation rival or a title challenger.

But this run of four games at the start of the year against teams battling to avoid the drop was always going to be the most crucial spell of the season to far.

They started well with the win over QPR, but defeats to Crystal Palace and Sunderland could prove costly, and next week’s visit of West Brom is now the biggest game of the season to date.

The eight Premier League fixtures that follow are against sides in the top half and points are going to be tough to come by, so to finish with a return of just three points from these four games would be an enormous blow.

In a sense Burnley have got away with those last two defeats, with other teams around them losing, and they remain out of the relegation zone, but you could also present it as a missed opportunity to put some breathing space between them and the bottom three.

Before the game the Clarets had become just the second team in Premier League history to name the same starting XI for the ninth match in a row. Birmingham hold the record after going 12 games unchanged, but after this defeat and lacklustre display, it’s difficult to see Burnley reaching double figures next weekend.

The first half chance fell the visitors’ way, when Ashley Barnes headed David Jones’ free-kick wide from six-yards out.

Four minutes later Connor Wickham had a header from a similar distance, and made no mistake.

Sebastian Larsson found a pocket of space inside and freed advancing right-back Anthony Reveillere into space, and his pinpoint cross was headed back across goal and into the corner of the net by Wickham.

Sunderland doubled their advantage on 34 minutes. This time Jordi Gomez was given space outside the area and his cute pass played Patrick van Aanholt, running free from left-back, into the box and behind the defence.

As Heaton tried to close the angle, Van Aanholt rolled the ball across for Jermain Defoe to tap in his first goal for the club.

Burnley improved marginally after the break but there was never a period when they looked like getting back into the game and blowing Sunderland’s resistance apart.

The hosts used their Premier League experience to slow the game down to walking pace, and the Clarets were restricted to half chances, such as Barnes’ downward header which lost all power when it hit the ground, while the same player also had a shot from the edge of the box deflected wide after Ings had almost broken clear.

It was the top scorer’s final action in the game, with Lukas Jutkiewicz and Ross Wallace coming on for Ings and Boyd.

It was a change of personnel when the state of the match probably called for a change of system, and it failed to alter the direction of the game.