MICHAEL Jolley hailed an impressive team performance as Burnley Under-23s signed off from the Premier League Cup with victory over Sunderland.

The Clarets won an entertaining clash 5-3 at Edgeley Park and Jolley was pleased with the performance against the Black Cats, who have beaten Benfica, PSV Eindhoven and Athletic Bilbao at this level in the Premier League Intercontinental Cup this season.

"I was really pleased. I’ve been saying for a while we’ve been improving and we’ve not always been able to convert that into results, but I think you saw today we’re definitely moving forward," said development squad chief Jolley.

"Some of the young players produced excellent performances and that helped us produce a really good team performance.

"To beat a Category 1 team like Sunderland is a good sign of the progress we’re making.

"They’re a good side, they’ve got lads who’ve been on the fringes of the first time, so for our lads it’s a good marker and a good barometer for how far we think we’ve come.

"We’ve got to keep working hard to get players into our first team or out on loan playing Football League games."

Victory wasn't enough for Burnley to progress out of the group, having been beaten at Cardiff City last time out despite dominating the game.

But the Clarets ended the group with a second victory, having beaten the Bluebirds at Turf Moor earlier in the campaign, having swatted aside Bournemouth and Watford to reach the group stage.

"It’s frustrating, we had so many chances to win the game at Cardiff and after today’s game you think ‘what if?’," said Jolley.

"The bigger picture is that it’s about producing players and our performances are improving, and that is ultimately the main thing.

"As disappointing as it is to not get the result down there I think we’re moving forward."