A Burnley FC blessing in disguise has emerged after Preston North End disappointment | OneFootball

The Clarets will be focusing on Championship promotion after Saturday's defeat at Deepdale

Burnley were unceremoniously dumped out of the FA Cup by local rivals Preston North End at the weekend, with the Clarets struggling to land a glove on their fellow Lancashire side in a 3-0 defeat at Deepdale.

Robbie Brady’s stunning free-kick opened the scoring for the hosts, before Milutin Osmajic doubled the lead just before the break, with Will Keane adding a layer of gloss to the scoreline late on to round off a superb day at the office for Paul Heckinbottom’s side.

While the Lilywhites were left celebrating a first FA Cup quarter-final in 59 years, Scott Parker’s side won’t be feeling too many ill-effects from their no-show at the weekend, as they return to the bread and butter of Championship football.

With automatic promotion their main objective for the campaign, it is only local bragging rights that will have been effected by the Saturday’s defeat, with all eyes now on the final 12 games of the season, and trying to break into the top two on the second tier.

Lancashire Derby ends in defeat for Burnley as Preston earn place in FA Cup quarter-final

It was always going to take something brilliant to break a Burnley defence that has set all sorts of records in the Championship this season, and Brady’s free-kick was exactly that.

The Irishman picked out the top corner with his set-piece strike on the half hour to put the hosts into the lead on Saturday, with Vaclav Hladky left grasping at thin air in his attempts to keep the effort out.

While Luca Koleosho had a chance to level matters soon after, North End doubled their advantage just before the break. Brad Potts’ sublime ball bisected the Burnley backline to send Osmajic away, with the Montenegrin making no mistake when one-on-one with the onrushing goalkeeper to send his side in to the break two goals to the good.

Freddie Woodman only had two shots on target to save throughout the 90 minutes as Preston saw the game out, as Keane got the goal his performance deserved with 15 minutes left to play, and send the home fans into ecstasy for the third and final time.

While those in claret and blue will be ruing a poor performance on the pitch against one of their most bitter rivals, it gives Parker and his charges the chance to put all their efforts into earning promotion between now and May, and that won’t be such a bad thing as things hot up at the top end of the Championship.

Scott Parker will sense Burnley silver lining after Preston North End defeat

That Deepdale disappointment can be put out of Burnley’s minds right from the get-go on Tuesday night, as the Clarets travel to lowly Cardiff City in the hope of getting their promotion quest back on track.

The trip to Wales will make up the Lancashire side’s game in hand on Leeds United and Sheffield United in the top two of the Championship right now, with the second-placed Blades currently five points better off after their 2-1 victory over QPR on Saturday.

If Parker’s side can return to winning ways, they won’t have any hard feelings over that Preston defeat, as they look to put all their efforts into overcoming one of the two Yorkshire outfits in the battle for the top two over the next 12 league games.

The FA Cup was never going to be coming to Turf Moor this season, everyone was aware of that, so putting that pipe dream to bed will ultimately be best for all involved, even if their journey was ended by their fierce rivals.

With some favourable fixtures coming up and no other distractions ahead of them, Saturday’s result could well prove to be the catalyst for the Clarets to kick on a gear over the next two months, as thy continue to search for an immediate return to the Premier League.

If things stay the way they are at the top of the table, the Easter Monday clash with Sheffield United could be the most crucial fixture of the season, and with nothing else on their mind between now and then, the Turf Moor outfit will be looking to turn the screw before too long.

Preston might have the bragging right this week, but Burnley could well have the last laugh come the end of the campaign, and could look back on that Deepdale disaster as a decisive moment in the season.