ANDY Payton was quick to spread the praise around after his third goal in three league games accounted for Stoke City and made it three wins out of four for Burnley.

Payton struck the Clarets winner for the second week in a row in a 1-0 victory.

But he claimed afterwards that the accolades should be shared with his defensive colleagues.

"We kept a clean sheet and if we do that we've always got a chance," said Payton.

"I thought the lads at the back were superb."

The in-form striker also paid tribute to Graham Branch, who gave Burnley some added impetus when rising from the bench and nodded on a Paul Crichton free-kick to create Payton's clincher 15 minutes from time

"I thought Branchy did really well when he came on and he set the goal up really with a flick-on.

"You just keep plugging away and you've always got to be optimistic playing up front," Payton added.

"It was just a case of plugging away and we're all delighted with the points. It's another step in the right direction.

"We hung on and I thought we thoroughly deserved to win.

"Paul Crichton didn't have a save to make. I know it was a bit anxious but if you actually look at their goal efforts at the end they didn't really have any."

The Clarets' third straight League win kept them joint top of the table, although that lead was shared by just two other clubs - Wigan and Luton Town - before today's programme.

"It's very early days but we just want to keep getting points and keep it going," added Payton before preparing for Burnley's game at Bristol Rovers this afternoon.

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