The Blues’ FA Cup fourth round tie at home to Burnley remains 0-0 at half-time but with Town having had the better of the opening period.

Boss Kieran McKenna made eight changes with only skipper Sam Morsy, George Edmundson and Lee Evans remaining from the team which beat Morecambe 4-0 on Tuesday.

Vaclav Hladky came in in goal behind a back four of Janoi Donacien, Luke Woolfenden, Edmundson and Greg Leigh.

Morsy and Evans were the central midfield pairing with Kayden Jackson on the right, Sone Aluko in the middle and Marcus Harness the left behind central striker George Hirst.

Town named a strong nine-man bench featuring top scorer Conor Chaplin, Nathan Broadhead, Kyle Edwards, Massimo Luongo and Cameron Humphreys.

Harry Clarke was ineligible having played for Stoke earlier in the competition, while neither Leif Davis nor Wes Burns were in the squad.

Burnley boss Vincent Kompany made seven changes from the team which beat West Brom 2-1 a week ago yesterday.

Scott Twine, who signed for the Clarets from the MK Dons in the summer, was handed his full debut, while new signing Ameen Al-Dakhil made his Clarets bow and fellow recent recent recruits Lyle Foster and Hjalmar Ekdal were among the subs.

Town were first to threaten in the second minute when Jackson was sent away on the right and crossed low for Hirst, who slid in but sent the ball the wrong side of the post under pressure from Al-Dakhil.

Moments later, Hirst was almost gifted the ball inside the Clarets’ box by Charlie Taylor but visitors keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell was quickly off his line to clear the under-hit backpass.

The Blues maintained their strong start and went close to going in front in the fifth minute when, after Hirst had been stopped in his tracks just inside the area, Harness curled a shot over Bailey-Farrell which scuffed the top of the bar.

On 10, Peacock-Farrell punched a Leigh cross away off the top of Hirst’s head, then two minutes later, Jordan Beyer was shown the game’s first yellow card for pulling back Aluko, the second time the Town forward had been stopped in that manner by the Lancastrians.

Burnley, who had struggled to get on the ball, managed their first shot in the 20th minute when it fell for Jay Rodriguez on the left of the box but the one-time England international shot well into the Sir Bobby Robson Stand.

A minute later, Rodriguez won a free-kick 25 yards out to the right and Twine struck a powerful shot straight at Hladky.

But it was still mainly Town and on 24 Morsy clipped a cross into the area for Hirst, who knocked it down but no teammate read it and the ball was cleared. Two minutes later, Harness was yellow-carded for a late challenge on Al-Dakhil, although the former Pompey man looked as if he’d lost his footing rather than making a challenge.

As the game passed the half-hour mark, Darko Churlinov did well on the left and cut inside to Rodriguez, but the former Southampton man’s effort, which looked to be going wide anyway, went behind off Donacien.

On 33, Jackson sent over a cross-shot from the right which threatened to dip under Peacock-Farrell’s bar and the Northern Irishman was forced to tip over. From the corner, the ball was played to Morsy on the edge of the area, the Egyptian international crossed and Leigh flicked a header wide.

Five minutes later, the Blues threatened again, Hirst playing in Morsy on the left of the area from where the skipper’s effort from a tight angle was forced behind.

Referee Tom Nield played an advantage in the build-up as the already-booked Beyer bodychecked Jackson but surprisingly took no action against the on-loan Borussia Mönchengladbach man, who could count himself fortunate not to have been shown his second yellow card of the afternoon.

In the single minute of injury time, Clarets skipper Jack Cork played the ball straight to Harness in space midway inside the Burnley half but the Blues forward ran into trouble on the edge of the box when he ought to have taken an earlier shot or moved the ball on to Town players to his left and right.

The half-time whistle was greeted by applause from Blues fans, their team having been on top against the Championship’s top side.

The Blues had been in control for much of the half with Town having created most of the game’s chances with Harness having come closest when he hit the bar and Jackson not far away with his effort which Peacock-Farrell flicked over the woodwork.

Burnley had put in a scrappy display for the most part, particularly at the back, but while occasionally showing signs of the threat they have posed up front in the Championship this season.

Town: Hladky, Donacien, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Jackson, Evans, Morsy (c), Leigh, Aluko, Harness, Hirst. Subs: Walton, Burgess, Vincent-Young, Humphreys, Luongo, Edwards, Broadhead, Chaplin, Ladapo.

Burnley: Peacock-Farrell, Taylor, Cork (c), Rodriguez, Twine, Da Silva, Tella, Bastien, Churlinov, Al-Dakhil, Beyer. Subs: Capser, Brownhill, Barnes, Foster, Roberts, Ekdal, Zaroury, Cullen, Maatsen. Referee: Tom Nield (West Yorkshire).

Photo: Matchday Images

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