BURNLEY ignited dreams of Champions League nights at Turf Moor as they brightened up a rotten night with a dramatic late winner.

The Clarets knew victory would take them fourth in the league - for 24 hours at least - but for large periods of this game with struggling Stoke City it looked like it wasn’t to be.

The foul conditions as heavy rain combined with freezing temperatures did little to help either the Clarets or the Potters, while the action on the pitch failed to warm the hearts of the brave souls in attendance.

But just as the home faithful began to dream of hot drinks in front of the fire they were given something to warm their spirits.

The conditions seemed to be set for Ashley Barnes’ no-nonsense style and with time running out he fired Burnley to fourth with a brilliantly taken goal.

Sean Dyche had told fans on Monday to continue dreaming of an assault on a European place and this result would certainly have send them to sleep with thoughts of trips to the continent on their minds. Now where did I put that passport?

Until Barnes’ struck late it looked like this was game was going to be one to forget, but in the end it was classic Burnley under Dyche. A game that looked like it was going to be spoils shared was suddenly swung the Clarets way.

For 89 minutes it had been a battle against the elements for both sides. Stoke had arrived a struggling side and if their wretched recent run wasn’t enough the Potters were greeted with the astonishing stat that they hadn’t won an away top-flight league game on a Tuesday night in 53 attempts, dating back to April 1906. That 111-year wait will go on.

But it had been a bright start from the visitors, Peter Crouch hitting the base of the post from close range from Ramadan Sobhi’s deep cross, before an unmarked Kurt Zouma volleyed straight at Nick Pope from Xherdan Shaqiri’s corner.

It had been an uncharacteristically sloppy start from the Clarets, with passes going astray and aerial duels being lost, and the conditions weren’t giving the Turf Moor faithful much encouragement either.

Stoke had come into this game supposedly short of confidence after their shellacking at Spurs on Saturday, with Mark Hughes under pressure.

But they didn’t look a side ready to down tools in increasingly atrocious weather, continuing to create the better chances as James Tarkowski forced Mame Biram Diouf wide and his shot was into the side-netting.

The Clarets were beginning to warm up as the half progressed and from a half-cleared corner Scott Arfield’s volley was blocked by Peter Crouch and Johann Berg Gudmundsson curled a left-footed effort narrowly over.

The in-form Gudmundsson had a fan club over to watch him against Stoke, with a group of Icelandic Clarets in attendance. At least not everyone inside Turf Moor was feeling the cold.

Burnley’s defensive injury crisis claimed another victim before the half was out, with Stephen Ward limping off to hand Charlie Taylor a Premier League debut. That leaves the Clarets down to the bare bones at the back, with four of what Sean Dyche would have considered his first choice back five from the start of the season now on the treatment table.

The half-time team talks did little to inspire either side, with Pope again making a comfortable save from Shaqiri’s longranger, while Steven Defour’s dipping volley was comfortably fielded by Jack Butland.

But the game had been always looked like it could be set up for Barnes and so it proved.

Jack Cork’s pin-point pass found him on the edge of the area and he chested down for Arfied who returned the favour and Barnes lashed the ball home from 15 yards.