"I wish" - Burnley FC could be haunted by January transfer regret | OneFootball

The Clarets have been hampered by their inability to put the ball in the back of the net this season

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Burnley had something of a quiet transfer window compared to their recent endeavours, with the Clarets bringing in five new players to add to their squad ahead of the second-half of the season.

Eight players departed Turf Moor as Scott Parker cut down a bloated playing squad throughout January, with Jay Rodriguez and John Egan leaving Lancashire on a permanent basis, with six other loan deals agreed.

In terms of bringing players in, the promotion-chasers strengthened their hand on either flank, with Jaydon Banel and Marcus Edwards likely to do some damage in wide areas, while experienced campaigners Jonjo Shelvey and Ashley Barnes were also captured, with the latter returning to the club he spent nine years at before his departure in the summer of 2023.

A lack of goals has been the scourge of the Clarets all season, and Football League World’s Burnley fan pundit Will Lancaster believes failing to address that issue with a prolific marksman could come back to haunt his side as the season progresses.

Burnley fail to add another striker in January transfer window

While they may be in contention for an automatic promotion place as it stands, Parker and his Burnley side have had their issues in front of goal throughout the campaign, with ten 0-0 draws from their 31 league games painting its own story.

With just 37 league goals during that time, and Josh Brownhill topping the scoring charts with nine - albeit with two penalties included in that number - a prolific number nine could have made all the difference as the race for a place in the Premier League hots up.

As James Trafford continues to prove an unbeatable force at the other end, the Clarets could have been out of sight at the top of the division if they were able to find the back of the net on a more regular basis, and Lancaster believes the club missed a trick in failing to add extra options in the past few weeks.

When asked about a regret Burnley may have regarding the transfer window, he said: “I wish the club had bought a striker really; Zian Flemming is probably the out and out striker if you are looking on paper.

“He has come over a decent run of form since the Christmas period, but he needs some sort of competition or backup.

“We obviously have Ashley Barnes joining in the winter, but with Jay Rodriguez leaving it was something of a like for like swap.

“Lyle Foster now plays out on the left-hand side, so there is not much in terms of genuine options to bring off the bench and I just think in this part of the season, that reassurance in the final third would have massively spurred the club on.

“We could have mounted a proper promotion push against the likes of Sheffield United, Leeds and Sunderland, so that is one area I wish we had strengthened a little bit more.”

Burnley’s lack of goals could cost them automatic promotion

With the top four in the Championship separated by just five points as we head into the final third of the season, things are looking like they will go down to the wire in terms of who will book their ticket to the top flight when all is said and done in May.

While no side has lost fewer games than Burnley, only West Bromwich Albion (14) can top their 13 draws in the Championship this season, with many occurring due to their lack of cutting edge in front of goal, as they fail to turn their dominance into precious points.

It took an own goal from Michal Helik to get the job done against a resolute Oxford United side on Tuesday night, while the stalemate against Portsmouth at the weekend was the 12th time they had drawn a blank all season, which equates to a staggering 38.7% of all their outings.

Add to that the fact that 13 of their 37 goals have come in three games this season (4-1 vs Luton, 5-0 vs Cardiff and Plymouth Argyle), and that toothless attack could be what makes the difference between finishing in the top two and the play-off spots in the coming months, with Sunderland, Leeds United and Sheffield United showing no signs of slowing up in the race for the automatic spots.

Banel and Edwards could provide the extra creativity in wide areas to supply the likes of Flemming in the centre from now on, but we will have to wait and see in that regard, with the same old issues likely to blight Burnley for the remainder of the campaign.