Clarets striker Chris Wood was at the double to all but guarantee Turf Moor will host Premier League football next season.

A goal in each half for the Kiwi was enough to move Sean Dyche’s side 11 points clear of the visitors and the drop zone.

It was almost the perfect start for the Clarets just two minutes in but Wood guided his header onto the post from five yards out after Ben Mee had flicked a Dwight McNeil free-kick goalwards.

Cardiff’s first real effort came on 15 minutes when Josh Murphy broke out from the visitor’s right before firing a shot wide of Tom Heaton’s goal.

Ashley Westwood wasted a glorious chance just before the half hour mark, firing a shot straight at Etheridge after being put clear by a delicious Wood through ball.

The Clarets did eventually break the deadlock three minutes later, Wood heading home a McNeil corner from three yards out.

The busy Westwood was sent clear again on 35 minutes but his shot this time was deflected behind by Etheridge. Taylor fired over after the resulting corner was only half cleared by the Cardiff defence.

The visitors thought James Tarkowski was lucky to escape with just a yellow card five minutes before the break after Kenneth Zohore went down under a challenge when he looked through on goal. 

Joe Bennett lifted the free-kick that followed well over the Burnley bar as Neil Warnock’s side struggled to create anything of note in a first half which threatened to boil over at times.

The Clarets had a lucky escape at the start of the second half when the linesman flagged for a penalty for handball against Ben Mee, only for Mike Dean to overturn his decision leaving Warnock once again to rue his luck.

Cardiff, to their credit, did look more threatening after the break and Harry Arter saw a curling effort skim the top of the crossbar just a minute after the penalty incident.

Former Blackburn Rovers man Junior Hoilett gave Heaton his first real save on the hour mark, but the Clarets skipper gathered a shot from distance comfortably.

The midfielder then lifted a shot well over the bar from 10 yards out after Zohore had found him unmarked with a neat cutback. 

After a first half of plentiful chances, Burnley were made to wait for their opportunities after the restart.

Barnes had a chance to double the Clarets’ lead 15 minutes from time but he was denied by a mixture of Etheridge and Bruno Manga before Mee saw a header from the resulting corner turned behind.

Warnock shuffled the Cardiff pack three times but despite that early second half rally, failed to test Heaton.

Wood put the game beyond the Bluebirds in stopped time, heading home from a yard out after McNeil’s low cross had been touched goalwards by Bruno Manga.

Burnley: Heaton; Lowton, Mee, Tarkowski, Taylor; Hendrick, Westwood, Cork, McNeil; Barnes, Wood.

Unused subs: Hart, Ward, Gibson, Gudmundsson, Brady, Long, Vydra.

Cardiff City: Etheridge, Peltier, Morrison, Manga, Bennett, Hoilett (73, Mendez-Laing), Gunnarsson, Camarasa, Arter (81, Reid), Zohore (78, Niasse), Murphy.

Unused subs: Murphy, Ralls, Bacuna, Cunningham