HERO of the hour Brian Jensen modestly insists his defence deserves the credit for transforming Burnley into one of the Championship’s stingiest sides.

The Clarets goalkeeper earned all the plaudits after his man-of-the-match performance in Tuesday’s enthralling 1-0 victory over Reading.

Pulling off a string of world-class saves at Turf Moor, Jensen kept Owen Coyle’s men in the hunt before Robbie Blake fired home a late winner.

It meant a seventh clean sheet of the campaign for the giant Dane, who is arguably enjoying his best run of form at Turf Moor since joining the club in June 2003.

Burnley have now conceded just 11 goals in their last 12 league and cup games – in stark contrast to the seven goals they shipped in the opening two games of the season.

However, the humble 33-year-old goalkeeper is refusing to take any of the credit, instead hailing Burnley’s defence for keeping it tighter at the back.

“The defence has been absolutely brilliant, but that’s their job,” said Jensen.

“If the defenders and midfielders are doing well then I have nothing to do.

“At the end of the day, I am the last man trying to stop the ball going into the net, so it was my turn to contribute a little bit (against Reading).

“We hope I’m not going to do the same on Saturday!”

Earlier this season, Jensen looked destined to take a back-seat role at Turf Moor after boss Coyle signed Peruvian international stopper Diego Penny.

With Hungarian Gabor Kiraly also on the Clarets books - although free to leave the club - it left the Danish shot-stopper with plenty of competition on his hands.

However, the former West Brom man has thrived on the pressure of reclaiming the club’s number one tag.

“Since all the international goalkeepers have come in, it’s put a tiny bit of pressure on me!” joked Jensen.

“But they’re all good lads and I get on with them really, really well.

“Of course, competition always keeps you on your toes, and that’s what you need in a good Championship side.”

The Clarets climbed to fifth in the Championship following victory over Reading and will look to press their play-off claims further against Norwich at Turf Moor on Saturday.

Coyle’s men hit a stumbling block earlier this month - crashing 3-1 away at Reading - but Jensen admits it is crucial hit straight back.

Recalling a previous purple patch of form, the goalkeeper said: “The season when John McGreal and Gary Cahill were here was a good (run) as well.

“We had a few cleans sheets. They’re the main thing, and we’ll just take it from there.

“We just needed to keep that unbeaten run going.

“We always lose to Reading - it's the first time I've beaten them - so I’m really happy we got the three points. That was the main thing.

“When we went down there we thought we should probably got more out of it than we did.

“We were beaten 3-1 and they killed our run. So we started a new one and the main thing was that they were not going to do that again, and they didn’t.”