Scott Parker must utilise Burnley FC unsung hero to boost promotion chances | OneFootball

Can the Clarets win promotion to the top-flight under Scott Parker? 🟣

Burnley are approaching the business end of the campaign in just the perfect form, as they go head-to-head in a three-horse race for promotion with Leeds United and Sheffield United - and boss Scott Parker will need to utilise one of his unsung heroes as often as he can if he's to see his Clarets side taste Premier League football next season.

A 0-0 draw with Preston North End in mid-February made it seem as though the automatic promotion race was too much of a task for the Clarets to oust the Yorkshire duo, but four wins from their last five games - including two 4-0 routs at home - have hauled them right back into the race amid Leeds' poor form and Sheffield United's inability to capitalise on Burnley's draw with West Bromwich Albion earlier this month.

It's now an eight-game shootout between the top three, with promotion still in Burnley's hands despite the two-point gap, given that the Blades have to visit Turf Moor in the coming weeks - and one way that Parker can fully stamp his mark on the automatic promotion race is by utilising Josh Laurent more, with the unsung hero having been in fine form for the Clarets recently.

Why Josh Laurent is Burnley's unsung hero

Laurent was a somewhat unremarkable signing from Stoke City in the summer transfer window, costing the club just £500,000 from the Staffordshire outfit - and although originally seen as a squad player, he's performed well in his 34 Championship games, notching two goals and registering two assists in that time.

But in recent weeks, he's really started to up his game. A late assist for Ashley Barnes to net the first goal of his second spell at Turf Moor - where he used his engine to contribute even with the final kicks of the game - showed just how physically adept he is in the second-tier. He followed that up a week later with a dominating performance against Swansea City, keeping the Clarets on the front foot and allowing them to go home with all three points against the Welsh side.

However, there is one slight drawback to how he has been utilised this season. Of the Clarets' 38 Championship games, Laurent has started just 22 of those - with Josh Brownhill, Josh Cullen and Hannibal Mejbri appearing to be Parker's favoured trio at times.

Josh Laurent's inclusion makes Parker headache easier

However, Laurent's inclusion has borne its fruit for more than one reason recently. Not only is his physicality, physical frame and stamina vastly needed in the engine room alongside a diminutive, technically astute Cullen - but Laurent playing in the deeper role allows Brownhill to get further up the field.

The goal-laden star has 13 strikes in the division this season, including one goal in each of Burnley's last four wins - and that is worth its weight in gold at this stage of the campaign.

He may not have as much potential as Hannibal, but when Brownhill plays centrally and the Tunisian goes further forward, it prohibits the Englishman from making those runs and ultimately kills his knack of goalscoring, which the Clarets have relied on so heavily at times this season.

Laurent's inclusion allows Brownhill to get into the area and score goals - and at this stage in the campaign, it doesn't matter how you play - it simply matters that you are putting enough points on the board to have a real go at promotion, with the prizes on offer for playing in the Premier League being vastly important to the club's future - and that means that unsung hero Laurent should be starting more to free up their goalscoring supremo to damage teams in the run-in.