Exclusive: David Prutton makes claim on “staggering” Burnley & Scott Parker feat | OneFootball

The Clarets' defensive record has been a sight to behold this season in the Championship

The Championship promotion race is entering its climax, with three clubs realistically in with a shot of grabbing the two automatic spots up for grabs - Burnley being one of them.

It's not always been easy following the Clarets this season, with plenty of their 15 draws coming down to their poor finishing in-front of goal - their third-top scorer in Jaidon Anthony only having four league goals shows that they have been extremely profligate in the final third, with Josh Brownhill and Zian Flemming somewhat saving them at times.

The most impressive thing about Scott Parker's side though has been their much-talked about defensive record, having conceded just 11 goals after 39 matches.

David Prutton left astounded at Burnley FC's defensive record

It looked as though at one point, Burnley were never going to concede a league goal again, and going into their March 4 clash with Cardiff City, James Trafford had racked up 12 Championship clean sheets in succession.

That all came to an end thanks to Yousef Salech's goal for the Bluebirds that evening, but just one more goal has been leaked since then, with Burnley also on a 25-match unbeaten run in league action.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports's lead EFL presenter David Prutton admitted that he has been staggered to see what the Clarets have achieved at the back end of the pitch over the course of recent months.

"Burnley's defence, 11 goals conceded in the Championship all season is ridiculous," Prutton told FLW.

"Very impressed by it, and in stark contrast to how porous that defence was in the Premier League, isn't it?

"So what Scott's done, the players he's managed to manouevre into a very solid unit, back to the goalkeeper, who is very highly-coveted in the division above, shows exactly how impressive that job is.

"He'll stress it's not just the back four, it's the team as a whole that defends, but given their ability and their appetite to keep the ball out of their own net, it's been staggering to see really, and it's a way of climbing up the division which is possibly a little bit different to Leeds and Sheffield United.

"Amazing what he's done, doesn't mean to say that absolutely every time you watch them they're easy on the eye, but you've got to maintain maximum respect for what he's been able to do with the players he's got - good recruitment, good solid base that they've given themselves and aligned to that hopefully the attacking intent that takes them over the line."

Burnley's defensive record will be tested to the hilt in the coming weeks

Having conceded just two league goals in their previous 17 matches, Burnley's incredible record cannot be argued with, but they're about to come up against some very in-form attackers in the coming weeks.

This weekend, a tough task away at Coventry will confront Parker and his squad, with the Sky Blues set to unleash Haji Wright against Maxime Esteve and CJ Egan-Riley, and after a trip to Derby County, Burnley will welcome Norwich City and their two star forwards, Josh Sargent and Borja Sainz, who have a combined 30 league goals between them.