Burnley have had a fantastic season under the stewardship of manager Sean Dyche, and currently sit in 2nd place in the Championship on 83 points from 42 games.

graygraych

Andre Gray's 77th minute winner means that Burnley have achieved 9 points from their last 5 games, a decent haul considering that they are fighting for automatic promotion.

Gray has scored 24 goals this season and is currently the league's leading goalscorer, whereas Dyche's unwillingness to rotate has seen key contributions from George Boyd, Scott Arfield and Joey Barton.

Their defensive work has also been a contributing factor towards their push for promotion, their 34 goals conceded bettered only by 1st placed Middlesbrough.

Despite their consistent points scoring, Burnley have struggled for form recently - two wins against Birmingham and Leeds came after draws against Wolves, Brighton and Cardiff, of which the latter two could have easily seen the opposition come away with the three points.

Looking at the fixtures, next Saturday could prove pivotal in the automatic promotion race - Middlesbrough face a tough home game against Ipswich, whereas Brighton travel to Charlton, who could well be relegated by the time that game is played.

However, before that Burnley face a testing trip away to Lancashire rivals Preston, with Simon Grayson's men having defied all expectations to sit in 10th place on 57 points.

Despite a slight decline in form recently, Preston will provide strong opposition and given that their style is similar to Burnley's, it is not a given that the away side will walk away with the three points.

Indeed, if Brighton beat Charlton and Burnley fail to beat Preston, there is a distinct possibility that Brighton will hold the second automatic promotion spot come Saturday night.

Following those fixtures, Burnley face another difficult game - Middlesbrough at home - whereas Brighton are at home to a QPR side who have become resurgent in recent months under Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. If Dyche's side fail to pick up wins in both games - which is a real possibility given the nature of the contests - and Brighton pick up maximum points - which, given their recent form, you would not count out - it would surely put Chris Hughton's side in pole position for automatic promotion alongside Middlesbrough.

Of course, if Burnley beat Middlesbrough then the title race is wide open again, making Burnley favourites to return to the Premier League, but they face a tough couple of games before they can realise that dream.

What do you think Burnley fans? Do you think Burnley will achieve automatic promotion? Post your thoughts and opinions below!