NEW Burnley manager Owen Coyle was under no illusions that he was in for a baptism of fire when he cast his eyes over his first few fixtures.

Stoke City at home was a tricky opening assignment, especially after only meeting his players the day before his debut game. But, with a point and a clean sheet in the bag, attentions then turned to trips to Watford and then Charlton. No mean feat.

But Coyle has tackled his fire head on, dowsed the flames and, now two points off the play-offs, he has ignited a raging optimism in the Clarets camp.

But those players are in equal admiration of the impact Coyle has already had on their game in just over a week in charge.

He has allowed them to play with freedom and without fear; to keep trying things even if they don't come off straight away, and not to be scared of making mistakes.

And for the faith he has immediately put in them, they are rewarding him in spades.

Andy Gray's contribution didn't start and finish with the two goals that took him up to 13 for the season so far. He held the ball up to bring others into play in and around the box and closed down, where possible, when Charlton looked to bring the ball out from the back.

Fellow goalscorer Chris McCann was tenacious in midfield, Wade Elliott continues to make an impact with his deliveries from the right wing, goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly, who was well marshalled by the backline, helped to ease the pressure with a strong command of his penalty area, while Burnley may not have earned the early lead that rocked Charlton had it not been for Robbie Blake's precision set pieces.

As superb as the performance at Watford last Tuesday was, the display at Charlton was arguably even better.

Coyle had rightly anticipated a backlash from the Addicks, who were smarting from a 3-0 defeat at home to Sheffield United on the night that Burnley had left the Hornets licking their wounds.

But there is a sense of malaise engulfing The Valley. Supporters are growing increasingly tetchy having only been able to celebrate one home win in five attempts before Saturday.

Alan Pardew's men kept the ball well from the kick-off. Luke Varney, back in the starting line-up with the restoration of a 4-4-2 formation, was looking to make an impact, but both he and strike partner Chris Iwelumo felt the full force of David Unsworth's crunching challenges.

Jon Harley then cut out a searching ball for Iwelumo and Kyle Lafferty brought the ball out from the back to launch a quick break. The crossfield move ended with Gray spraying the ball wide for Elliott to run onto. The winger danced his way towards the box but was blocked just inside, Charlton failed to fully clear the resultant corner and Alan Mahon fired a warning shot from around 25 yards.

Blake was proving a tricky customer and was bundled over in the left channel. The striker seemingly suffered no after effects as he recovered to take the free kick, carressing the ball to the near post where Gray got ahead of Danny Mills to flick a header inside the near post.

Clarke Carlisle avoided an immediate reaction as he blocked out Matt Holland on the edge of the area, and a great start was amplified as the Clarets doubled their lead with almost a carbon copy goal.

The build-up and set-up was virtually the same. Blake was fouled in a similar position to the first free kick, bent it into the box again, where this time McCann had done brilliantly to get away from his marker and headed beyond a stranded Nicky Weaver to send a fantastic following behind the goal into raptures.

Charlton's frustrations in their attempts to get forward were summed up when Varney was booked for handling the ball as a close-range opening threatened to get away from him. Holland then headed Varney's right-wing cross wide of the near post under pressure from McCann.

Burnley, meanwhile, had ample opportunity to extend their lead even further. Mahon had a couple more long-range attempts, Blake forced a save from Weaver low to his left as he went for goal direct from another free kick. The striker then brilliantly controlled Lafferty's left-wing cross at an awkward height inside the six-yard box, but wasn't as precise with his finish and blasted over the bar.

But Charlton began to look more dangerous after the half-hour. The defence backed off to allow Darren Ambrose time and space to cut in from the right, but they breathed a sigh of relief when Zheng Zhi took too many touches in the area and put the ball behind instead of putting Kiraly under pressure.

But the Burnley stopper was beaten by a fierce Andy Reid strike nine minutes before the break.

Charlton re-applied the pressure at the start of the second half and Kiraly needed three attempts to claim a high ball into the box, but did infinitely better in keeping out Reid's left-foot fizzer, that swerved akwardly towards him. He palmed it away, then recovered to claim Iwelumo's follow-up.

After surviving another scare, as an offside flag ruled out a Charlton equaliser, Burnley pressed enough to put the game beyond doubt.

Mills inexplicably raised his hand to stop Elliott's high right-wing cross reaching the head of Lafferty at the far post. The referee immediately pointed to the spot, and Gray's stuttering run-up was enough to put Weaver off, and he sent the former Manchester City stopper the wrong way.

Gray blotted his copybook, though, for celebrating in front of the home fans before his team-mates huddled round him and dragged him away.

Varney tried to stage a late fight-back and brought another stunning save from Kiraly, while Unsworth recovered from a head injury to preserve the two-goal cushion.