Andrew Cole was the victim of a horror tackle from Darren Purse as the Clarets' Championship home campaign came to an end with a thrilling 3-3 draw with Cardiff.

Clarets striker needed several stitches following a late challenge from Purse, who saw red and could now miss the FA Cup Final.

There had been no sign of the drama to come as the Clarets roared into a two goal lead through Graham Alexander and Cole.

A Joe Ledley penalty and a super strike from Aaron Ramsay, both in the second half, then unexpectedly dragged Cardiff level.

Clarke Carlisle  - thought he had put the Clarets on course for victory with a header on 85 minutes - but skipper Steven Caldwell immediately deflected the ball into his own net moments later to end the scoring.

And there was just time for Purse to be shown a straight red for a shocking challenge on Cole, which sparked ugly scenes.

Cole receives treatment following Purse's challenge

The Clarets remained unchanged from the side which won 1-0 at Southampton last week, although boss Owen Coyle did give 18-year-old Alex MacDonald a place on the bench.

A Cole effort after six minutes was the only real effort of a quiet opening few minutes.

But just a minute later Turf Moor came alive when Ade Akinbiyi broke free of the Cardiff defence and fired a good shot, which Peter Enckelman did well to tip around for a corner.

Cardiff kept the ball well in the opening 20 minutes but created little in the way of chances and failed to test Clarets keeper Brian Jensen.

But the game burst into life on 36 minutes when the Clarets opened the scoring.

Alexander scored his first goal in more than 12 months and opened his Burnley account, latching onto a flick on from Cole before smashing past Enckelman.

The linesman flagged for offside, but referee Mr Hall rightly over-ruled his assistant and allowed the goal, much to the delight of the former Preston North End full back.

The visitors again enjoyed spells of possession but they could not to turn that into clear-cut chances and an injury to Stephen McPhail, which could rule him out of the FA Cup final against Portsmouth in a fortnight's time, was the only incident of note in the closing stages of the first half.

The Clarets started the second half brightly and only a well placed Cardiff defender stopped Wade Elliott doubling the lead with a header on 48 after a good cross from Stephen Jordan.

Cole did double the lead on 54 minutes, however, when he tapped home an Akinbiyi cross after a great through ball from Blake opened up the Cardiff defence.

The visitors' got a lifeline just two minutes later though when Jordan was judged to have tripped Trevor Sinclair and substitute Ledley made no mistake from the spot.

Steven Thompson almost got the visitors back on level terms but he failed to connect properly with a cross and Carlisle was able to calm clear.

Cole almost got a third on 68 minutes when he latched onto a through ball, but his shot was well-saved by Enckelman.

And the visitors did equalise just seconds later when Alexander gave the ball away to Ledley, who pulled the ball back to Aaron Ramsey to smash home from just inside the area.

The Clarets almost regained the lead again on 78 minutes when Blake and Cole both had shots blocked before Akinbiyi scuffed his effort wide.

Turf Moor then rose to its feet in applause a minute later as second year apprentice Alex MacDonald was handed his debut in place of Elliott.

And they were on their feet again five minutes later when Carlisle put the Clarets 3-2 up by heading home from three yards out after latching onto MacDonald's flick-on from Blake's corner.

Incrredibly, the visitors were back level once again just a minute later when a Peter Whittingham cross was poked past Jensen from just a couple of yards out by the unbfortunate Caldwell.

Purse's red card brought a breathless end to proceedings and the Clarets were left to rue poor defending as theri home campaign finished on a low note.