Stoke City 2 – 0 Burnley – 15th August – Set piece lesson for Owen Coyle

Burnley started off their first season in England’s top flight for 33 years with a defeat away to a Stoke side who showed why they avoided relegation last time around.

Two first half set pieces proved to be Burnley’s downfall; the highly rated Ryan Shawcross opened the scoring with an unchallenged header then Rory Delap continued his throw-in antics with a perfectly weighted ball that Stephen Jordan glanced into the back of the net.

It could very well have been 3-0 had Dave Kitson not thundered the bar late on. Indeed Burnley did not have much to offer in attack and apart from a Steven Paterson effort they look as if they could struggle for goals this season.

It was a unsympathetic introduction to Premier League football for Owen Coyle’s side and they will have to spend a considerable amount of time practicing set pieces if they are to avoid going straight back down to the Championship come May.