A 100% record with a trio of victories and seven goals has been rewarded with three Burnley names being nominated for March Premier League awards. Chris Wood and Sean Dyche are in the Player of the Month and Manager of the Month awards respectively, whilst Ashley Barnes has been shortlisted for the Goal of the Month award.
Hat-trick on the cards?
New Zealand international Wood has scored four goals in three games, despite only starting one of those, on his return from injury. He has formed a destructive strike partnership with Barnes and the attacking duo have scored all seven of Burnley's March goals between them. Wood goes up against Mo Salah, David Silva, Romelu Lukaku, Cenk Tosun and Son Hyeung-Min for the Player of the Month award.
Manager Dyche has been the mastermind behind three successive victories, ending a run of eleven games without a win. Formation tweaks have put Burnley back on the road towards Europa League qualification and Dyche is shortlisted for the Manager of the Month alongside Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and Claude Puel.
Ashley Barnes has scored in four successive games but his most memorable moment came when he executed a stunning scissor kick against West Brom. The striker produced the technical brilliance when Wood ducked under an Aaron Lennon clipped cross to send the Clarets into the lead.
Selection headache in goal
Yet it is a fourth Burnley player who has been rewarded with an impressive month after Nick Pope was named the Dafabet Player of the Month for the Clarets. The goalkeeper received his first England call and conceded just twice in March to win the award for the second time. He joins Johann Berg Gudmundsson at the top of the list whilst Robbie Brady, James Tarkowski and Steven Defour have all received the accolade in previous months.
It has been a good week for Burnley goalkeepers after Dyche announced that club captain Tom Heaton is back in contention for Saturday's fixture against Watford and Anders Lindegaard signed a new deal keeping him at the club until June 2019.