Vincent Kompany hailed Anass Zaroury’s attitude as the winger returned from an ecstatic reception in Morocco to fire Burnley clear at the top of the Sky Bet Championship table.

The winger played in the World Cup third-place play-off against Croatia on December 17 but just 10 days later he was back in the Clarets team and scored the fastest goal in the division this season to spark a 3-0 win over Birmingham.

Another World Cup star, Wales’ Connor Roberts, teed him up and then scored the second himself before half-time, with Nathan Tella adding a late third to put Burnley 11 points clear of third-placed Blackburn.

Kompany was delighted with Zaroury’s reaction, saying: “I don’t think the normal mortal human being will understand the challenge there is to go on a bus tour in front of millions of people in your country and then turn up the next day and still do your job as if you have not done anything yet in your life.

“As long as he keeps doing that, the sky is the limit. It’s a terrific way to come back.”

Zaroury only returned to training four days before the game but Kompany did not hesitate to start him in dreadful weather conditions.

He said: “When he came back we didn’t really know what to expect, so we were in between – is he ready to start or do we have to wait and bring him on?

“But he showed in training he was ready so he kind of made the decision through his performance in training. It helps to score within a minute to settle everyone’s questions!

“After that he did get tired towards the end.”

Kompany also hailed Roberts, who was exceptional at both ends of the field.

“You look at defenders and ask if they have given us what they needed to do defensively, and he did that terrifically," the manager explained.

“And on the ball we expect from all of our players to contribute to creating chances and sometimes even scoring. The way he scored that goal, it’s not even the first time this season."