BURNLEY manager Sean Dyche blamed a lack of guile in the final third as they slipped to a second defeat in three games.

Emilio Nsue’s 54th minute goal fired Middlesbrough to the top of the Championship while Burnley have not only gone six games without a win but are now three games without a goal.

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“They took their chance with a good bit of quality - an awful goal from our point of view defensively, and they’ve only really had another couple of chances in the box. We’ve kept the ball well, we haven’t had enough guile in the final third, that’s what it boils down to,” said Dyche.

“We kept the ball until we got into the final third and then gave it away too cheaply too many times.

“I thought we dealt with them well in the first half, particularly tactically, we changed the shape a little bit because we wanted to keep the ball and work with the ball more and try to be patient with the ball.

“We finished the half in good form, they started the second half better and got the one goal up. It’s a game of tight margins and they came out on top.”