JOHANN Berg Gudmundsson has hailed Sam Vokes as a defender’s worst nightmare after the Wales international continued his fine form in front of goal at Bournemouth.

Gudmundsson came off the bench to set Vokes up for the late goal at the Vitality Stadium that looked to have earned the Clarets a point, only for Josh King to snatch victory even later on for the Cherries.

But Vokes’ header was his 11th goal of the season, and his ninth in the Premier League this campaign, to put him top of the goalscoring charts at Burnley, one ahead of Andre Gray.

It was his third in the last two games after the double against West Brom and Iceland star Gudmundsson admitted he was a winger’s dream and hailed his display on the south coast.

“He was tremendous, I think he probably won 99.9 per cent of his duels and

he stuck one in, it was a great header,” Gudmundsson said.

“He’s been great since he came back from his hamstring. No defender in the league wants to come across Vokesy at the moment.”

It looked like Vokes’ header in the 83rd minute at Bournemouth was going to be the goal that confirmed Burnley’s safety on points as well as a goal difference.

But the celebrations were short lived when King scored three minutes later, leaving the Clarets on 40 points.

They had to wait until Sunday to see their place in the Premier League for next season confirmed when Hull, who needed to win their final two games, see Burnley lose to West Ham next week and find an 18 goal swing, were beaten 4-0 at Crystal Palace, meaning they join Middlesbrough and Sunderland in heading down to the Championship.

Gudmundsson admitted it was frustrating not to get the job done with a point at Bournemouth, but said the Clarets were punished for some poor defending.

“Conceding straight after we equalised was tough,” he said. “We tried to get back into but we couldn’t so it was really frustrating today we couldn’t get the point.

“I thought that (Vokes goal) was going to be it but football is unpredictable, it’s tough at times and they punished us for bad defending. That’s the Premier League.”

Gudmundsson’s cross for Vokes’ goal was his second assist of the season and it was an impressive cameo off the bench from the 26-year-old, who has impressed during an injury-hit first season at Turf Moor.

Having forced his way into the side in October and November he has since suffered a couple of setbacks and has started only one Premier League game since November 26.

The former Charlton Athletic man admits he wants more time on the pitch than he is getting at the moment, something that is likely to arrive next season, but he was pleased to be able to influence proceedings from the bench on Saturday.

“I want to be on the pitch more than I am at the moment, but when I come on I try to do my best and on Saturday I got the assist and that’s my job,” he said.