ASHLEY Barnes and Chris Wood continued their fine form in front of goal as Burnley cruised to a third straight win against West Brom.

After plundering five goals in 75 minutes together in the last two games Barnes and Wood were unleashed from the start at the Hawthorns to devastating effect one again, netting a goal apiece as the Clarets ran out 2-1 winners against a Baggies side that looked doomed for the drop.

The duo both scored for the third successive Premier League game in a row and the partnership has now yielded seven goals in 152 minutes of action since they were paired together at half-time against Everton.

Sean Dyche was forced into another change from the side that won at West Ham three weeks ago, with an injury picked up on international duty ruling Johann Berg Gudmundsson out, with Georges-Kevin Nkoudou making his first start.

Burnley were enjoying plenty of the ball in the early stages, with Ben Mee testing Ben Foster with a snapshot from the edge of the area.

That was comfortable for the Baggies goalkeeper, but he was powerless to do anything about Barnes’ stunning opener. Aaron Lennon had the better of Kieran Gibbs after the ball had ricocheted to him and stood up a cross that was slightly behind Barnes, but Burnley’s top scorer hooked a stunning volley over his shoulder and beyond Foster from eight yards.

The Clarets had silenced a disgruntled Hawthorns and were looking to add a second, with Matt Lowton’s low cross just hacked clear by Allan Nyom as Wood waited to pounce, before Wood glanced a header wide from a Jack Cork cross after the corner had been taken short.

Burnley countered to good effect to create another chance for Wood eight minutes before the break, with Nkoudou finding him in acres of space on the edge of the area, but the Kiwi striker dragged his shot wide.

West Brom’s first half threat had been limited but Nick Pope had to be alert on the stroke of the break, diving low to his left to keep out Salomon Rondon’s header.

Alan Pardew  made a change during the interval, bringing Matt Phillips on for Kieran Gibbs and reverting to a 4-4-2 which posed Burnley some early problems in the second half.

Chris Brunt’s fizzing delivery narrowly evaded everyone in the middle before Jay Rodriguez glanced a header over from 12 yards after Craig Dawson’s cross had picked him out.

At the other end Barnes and Lennon linked well wiith the latter’s cross cleared by Ahmed Hegazi to Ashley Westwood, who sent a half-volley skimming wide, before Barnes turned well on the edge of the area but sent his shot into the away end.

The Clarets had been stepping up the pressure and they doubled their advantage with just under 20 minutes to go. Matt Lowton’s pass inside found Wood in space in the area and he cut inside Hegazi but saw his initial shot saved by Foster, only for the rebound to fall for Wood to head into an empty net.

But the Baggies found some fight to make for a tense end. Jonny Evans’ cross didn’t look to be threatening, but Rondon touched it beyond James Tarkowski and from 12 yards found the bottom corner.

Burnley survived some nervous moments in the closing stages to hang on for all three points.