The Clarets split their squad for two concurrent games at the Barnfield Training Centre, with a sprinkling of U23 players drafted in to cover for a handful of injured first-teamers.

Centre back Bobby Thomas caught the eye with a goal in the 3-0 win over Tranmere, where Matej Vydra and Johann Berg Gudundsson were also on target.

Thomas header.jpg

Chris Wood got the only Burnley goal in the other game where League One Shrewsbury come out on top thanks to two early strikes.

Match reports for both games follow:

BURNLEY 3-0 TRANMERE ROVERS

Burnley eased past Tranmere Rovers as they began their pre-season with a resounding win.

Matej Vydra got the ball rolling with a smart finish to open the scoring, before Bobby Thomas headed home a second on the stroke of half time.

And Icelandic winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson rounded off a good afternoons’ work, watched by manager Sean Dyche, with a cool third midway through the second half.

Vydra 2.jpg

In the absence of James Tarkowski and Ben Mee, Jimmy Dunne partnered Thomas as centre back against Rovers, who fielded their strongest available side in their third pre-season game.

And there was a midfield berth for Josh Benson, alongside Josh Brownhill as Burnley started well against their League Two opponents from the Wirral.

Vydra and Gudmundsson had both gone close before the Czech striker opened the scoring in the 23rd minute.

Gudmundsson goal.jpg

Robbie Brady led the charge through the centre and fed Erik Pieters for the first of two assists on the afternoon, as he slid in Vydra for a smart finish.

Brady, who links up with the Republic of Ireland next week, was inches away from adding to the score with another curling effort, before the Clarets doubled their advantage with the last action of the half.

Gudmundsson’s deep corner was headed back into the six-yard box by Dunne and Thomas, wo looked assured throughout, stole a march to stoop and head neatly into the bottom corner.

The hosts continued to dominate after the break, with Peacock-Farrell remaining untroubled and, at the other end, Rodriguez’s shot being smartly saved and Gudmundsson’s follow-up blocked.

But just after the hour, Burnley struck again as Pieters’ gorgeous ball found Gudmundsson, who controlled the ball and coolly slotted past the advancing keeper from the edge of the box.

That was the Icelander’s last piece of action, as he made way for a first team bow from Northern Ireland U18 winger Chris Conn-Clarke, who impressed in his 12-minute cameo.

But with fitness the main aim, all boxes were ticked on a day when the Clarets got their season underway in professional fashion.

BURNLEY: Peacock-Farrell, Peiters, Thomas, Dunne, Bardsley, Brady, Benson, Brownhill, Gudmundsson (Conn-Clarke 78), Vydra, Rodriguez.
Subs: Rain, Rickard, Richter, Richardson.

BURNLEY 1-2 SHREWSBURY TOWN

Chris Wood got back in the groove from the penalty spot but the Clarets paid the price for a sluggish start as the Shrews secured a warm-up win.

Wood – the Clarets’ 14-goal top scorer last season – slotted home mid-way through the first period after strike partner Max Thompson had been bundled to the ground to halve Shrewsbury’s early lead.

Burnley then dominated for much of the rest of a competitive contest but couldn’t add to their tally in a useful work-out for a mixed side overseen by U23s’ coach Steve Stone.

Wood was one of five senior players to enjoy a full 90-minute run-out, while Matthew Lowton – who missed the end of last season with a knee injury – successfully came through 75 minutes before being replaced at right-back by new arrival Marcel Elva-Fountaine.

With stretched defensive resources Charlie Taylor partnered James Tarkowski in the middle of a back four completed by Anthony Glennon at left-back.

But the Clarets’ back line was breached twice in the opening 12 minutes by a lively Shrewsbury side which starts its campaign with a Carabao Cup tie at Middlesbrough next Friday night.

On-loan midfielder Scott High volleyed the visitors ahead with a superb finish from Josh Vela’s cross.

And ex-Accrington Stanley winger Shaun Whalley then made it 2-0 when he steered the ball into the bottom corner from Daniel Udoh’s pull-back.

The Clarets had been slow to get going, but once Ashley Westwood coaxed them into life with a typically commanding performance in the middle of the pitch they dictated the remainder of the first half.

Westwood action.jpg

However, they had only Wood’s spot-kick to show for their efforts as Mace Goodridge – tidy alongside Westwood – saw a shot blocked on the line from Tarkowski’s knock-down with the nearest the Clarets came to a leveller from a 33^rd-minute corner.

A set-piece after an hour in almost produced a second Burnley goal as Taylor headed a Dwight McNeil free-kick wide.

And then after the Shrews – whose one late opening was well saved by substitute keeper Lukas Jensen – made a raft of changes, the Clarets stepped up the pressure in search of parity.

Substitute Joel Mumbongo saw an effort saved by Town keeper Harry Burgoyne before squaring for Westwood to guide a low shot just wide of the target.

Dwight McNeil then whipped in a succession of dangerous balls from the left-hand side but Burnley’s last chance to even it up came from a Glennon cross which finally dropped for Mumbongo to find Burgoyne in his way again.

BURNLEY: Pope (Jensen HT), Lowton (Elva-Fountaine 75), Tarkowski, Taylor, Glennon, Tucker (Trialist HT), Westwood, Goodridge, McNeil, Wood, Thompson (Mumbongo HT). Substitute: Harker

POS	Team	PL	PTS
2	SH U	27	55
3	BUR	27	53
4	SUN	27	51

POS	Team	PL	PTS
2	SH U	27	55
3	BUR	27	53
4	SUN	27	51

Clarets Up And Running

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