Burnley will head to Middlesbrough on Sunday evening in high spirits and with key men back in their squad after their big Boxing Day victory over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

A 2-0 victory against the Blades came as Scott Parker's side became the first to score past Chris Wilder's side at Bramall Lane since August. It left them just one point behind Leeds United in top spot of the Championship ahead of Sunday evening's visit to the Riverside, where Boro are looking to rebound from the disappointment of squandering a three-goal lead against Sheffield Wednesday on Boxing day.

For Parker, he was keen to play down any talk of promotion statements after the victory, but was understandably delighted as he had a warning for Boro and all Championship sides about his belief in his side's progression.

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The Clarets boss said: "It can be key, but there’s still so far to go. If I was sitting here after a loss or a draw, I’d still be saying the same things. This isn’t going to decide anything this result, there’s still loads and loads of work to be done.

"We need to stay focused, keep grinding out results and keep improving like we are. I still see loads of improvement in this team, I still see facets of this team where we can be so much better and that’s a real positive for me.”

That was a sentiment that young defender Bashir Humphreys echoed in the aftermath of the Sheffield United win. Knowing the trip to Boro was coming so soon after, he admitted they'll be heading to the Riverside full of belief.

"I think it just gives us confidence," the 21-year-old said. "We’re not too bothered about making statements to the league, or statements to anyone else, it’s only about making statements to ourselves and giving ourselves that confidence as a team which we’ve been building as the season’s been going on.

“When you have momentum and you’re winning games you want the games to keep coming. You want to keep going and keep going so I think it’s great for us that we’ve got so many games in such a short period of time so we can keep on pushing.”

As well as coming to the Riverside with plenty of belief, they should do so with two key players back in the fold too. Striker Lyle Foster returned from the bench on Boxing Day after three months out. Parker was also hopeful that Jeremy Sarmiento, who was a threat throughout the reverse fixture earlier this month, would be back in the squad after missing Burnley's last two.