Robbie Blake scored a late winner as Burnley beat Plymouth to climb into fourth in the Championship.
Blake nets late goal as Clarets put Pilgrims under more pressure
Robbie Blake scored a late winner as Burnley beat relegation haunted Plymouth to climb into fourth in the Championship.
Owen Coyle's side earned a vital three points in their promotion push thanks to goals from Steven Caldwell and Blake.
Caldwell headed home after 16 minutes but the Pilgrims then equalised within a minute with an Alan Judge goal.
But Blake won it for the Clarets with a fine strike from 25 yards with 12 minutes to go.
Burnley named an unchanged side for the second game in succession as top scorer Martin Paterson was passed fit to lead the line.
The Clarets striker overcame a hamstring problem while Steve Thompson missed out again with ankle ligament damage.
Meanwhile, Plymouth boss Paul Sturrock was forced to do without central defender Mat Doumbe and striker Emile Mpenza, who were both ruled out with hamstring injuries.
Tried luck
Blackburn loanee Paul Gallagher tried his luck from distance early on but Brian Jensen in the Burnley goal always looked comfortable.
Burnley carved out a good opportunity with only three minutes on the clock.
Paterson raced to the byline and pulled the ball back for midfielder Chris McCann whose goal-bound shot was deflected just wide of the right-hand post.
Both sides struggled to create in what proved a tentative opening period but Jamie Mackie brought a fine stop out of Jensen in the 14th minute, the Burnley stopper tipping a drive from distance around the post.
But the deadlock was broken in the 16th minute when Caldwell rose highest in the home box to head beyond Plymouth goalkeeper Romain Larrieu.
McCann found Blake out wide and his fine ball was met by the Clarets defender who made no mistake in heading home his second goal of the season.
But within a minute Judge notched his first for the club since arriving on loan from Blackburn. The Clarets defence had a couple of chances to clear through Rhys Williams and Chris Eagles but Judge stole in and slipped the ball past Jensen to level the scores.
Ashley Barnes could have put the hosts ahead but for a fine Clarke Carlisle challenge, while Eagles and Paterson had further efforts from distance - but to no avail.
Second half
The second half began in similar fashion with little to choose between the two sides.
Pilgrims midfielder Carl Fletcher was allowed time to shoot and only a last-gasp block from Caldwell prevented the ball from seriously testing Jensen five minutes after the break.
Caldwell ventured up from the back moments later but his shot from the edge of the box flew well wide of the right-hand post.
The home side grew in confidence and began to dominate. They created a series of half chances, the best of which saw Mackie bring a smart stop from Jensen.
But completely against the run of play a moment of magic from Blake saw the visitors regain the lead 12 minutes from time.
Blake cleverly made space for the shot before driving the ball beyond the dive of Larrieu and into the bottom-left corner of the goal to settle the fixture.
