The Clarets took a giant leap towards the play offs with a hard fought, but thoroughly deserved 1-0 win over managerless Queens Park Rangers at Turf Moor.

Chris Eagles' close range effort from a towering Clarke Carlisle header was enough to give the Clarets all three points, despite a spirited effort by the West London visitors.

Burnley showed their attacking intent right from the off and Wade Elliott blasted a shot wide just seconds after kick off.

QPR soon struck the post through Vine after a neat one-two on the edge of the box, but the linesman's flag on the far side rightly adjudged the front man to be offside.

Jay Rodriguez, making his full debut for the Clarets, headed just wide from a Robbie Blake free kick after five minutes.

Jay in full flow!

Brian Jensen had to be alert to make a superb save at his near post on 13 minutes after Vine got behind full back Rhys Williams and fired a good shot goalwards.

Rodriguez, who was proving a real handful, had another header on 21 minutes but this time couldn't guide Eagles' cross towards goal under pressure from Kaspars Gorkss.

And the teenager went close with yet another header on 34 minutes, this time forcing Radek Cerny in the Rangers goal to dive to his right to save.

Graham Alexander capitalised on some sloppy defending a few seconds later and forced Cerny into another good save as the Clarets built up a head of steam.

And Blake had a typically accurate free kick well saved by Cerny five minutes before the break as the Clarets looked to get the all important first goal.

Alexander had a speculative shot saved by the QPR keeper on 42 minutes as the hosts dominated against a side content to keep Burnley at arms length.

But their luck would not last and the Clarets made the crucial breakthrough following a bright start to the second half.

Rodriguez had already had a shot deflected wide and Carlisle struck the post with a header from the resulting corner before the magical moment arrived in the 49th minute.

Carlisle was again first to meet Blake's corner - and Eagles turned the ball past Cerny and over the line from close range after the defender headed towards goal.

The Clarets should have had a second on 53 minutes, but neither Eagles nor Elliott could fire the ball home after good work down the left by the latter.

Eagles had a cross-cum-shot turned over by Cerny on 69 minutes and Carlisle had a bullet header off the line from the resulting corner as the hosts looked ot put the game to bed.

From the latter the Burnley substitutes, warming up on the far side, felt the ball had crossed the line, but replays later looked to show the linesman on that side made the right decision.

Substitute Lee Cook flashed a shot wide for the visitors on 83 minutes as Rangers looked to drag themselves level as nerves frayed in the home ranks.

But despite a nervous last few minutes, Rangers rarely threatened the Burnley goal and the final whistle was greeted by a huge cheer by the majority of the 15,000 inside Turf Moor.

The gap is now seven points, the games are running out. Could this be a pivotal day in the play off race?

Burnley: Jensen, Williams, Carlisle, Caldwell, Kalvenes, Elliott, Alexander, McCann, Eagles (McDonald 89), Blake (Gudjonsson 78), Rodriguez (Paterson 85).
Subs: Penny, Duff.
Booked: Kalvenes (foul, 32)

QPR: Cerny, Ramage, Gorkss, Connolly, Delaney, Routledge, Taarabt, Leigertwood, Ephraim (Lopez 72), Di Carmine (Cook 54), Vine (Alberti 84).
Subs: Mahon, Stewart.

Attendance: 15,058