Sean Dyche felt his players’ first half malaise cost them dearly in the home defeat to Aston Villa.
The Clarets trailed 2-0 at half time after Wesley and Jack Grealish made the Clarets pay for a sluggish opening 45 minutes.
Burnley rallied after the break following a double substitution that saw the introduction of Jay Rodriguez and Johann Berg Gudmundsson – and were eventually rewarded when Chris Wood headed his eighth goal of the season 10 minutes from time.
But despite peppering the Villa box throughout the half, there was to be no new year cheer as Dyche’s men fell to a third straight defeat.