Steven Defour successfully completed 70 minutes as a strong Burnley line-up beat Canadian side FC Edmonton with goals from Dwight McNeil and Dan Agyei at the Barnfield Training Centre.





Defour stepped up his comeback from the hamstring injury that has kept him out since the end of January as one of several senior players given a run-out by watching manager Sean Dyche.











Defour was partnered in central midfield by Ashley Westwood, while Sam Vokes played alongside Agyei in attack, with the Clarets' back four made up of Tendayi Darikwa, Kevin Long, James Tarkowski and Jon Flanagan.





Not surprisingly, Burnley dominated possession against a side building up for their new North America Soccer League season next month.





The Canadian outfit are on a week-long pre-season camp based in the North-West, taking in games against Wigan, Burnley, Newcastle United and Stoke City.









Dan Agyei slotted home Burnley's second goal





After beating a young Wigan side 2-0 last Saturday, the visitors, managed by former Rangers, Hamilton Academicals and Doncaster Rovers defender Colin Miller, found it harder going against the Clarets.





But they conceded only one goal in each half with youth-team winger McNeil putting Burnley in front after 20 minutes when he scored directly from a wide-assisted, in-swinging corner.





The Clarets then created a flurry of chances just before the break but couldn't add to their tally.





The tidy Defour was often the instigator, feeding Agyei for an effort he saw saved by Edmonton keeper Nathan Ingham and then creating another chance for a trialist who clipped the outside of a post.













Darikwa almost set up Vokes with a typically sniping run into the box and Westwood also went close with a low shot which was well saved by Ingham.





Edmonton started the second half with their best spell of the match and it took a smart stop from Nick Pope, advancing quickly off his line, to deny former Galway United striker Jake Keegan an equaliser.





Burnley responded with Vokes heading wide from a Long ball and Westwood threatened again with another drive from the edge of the penalty area that was deflected just wide.





The Clarets' second goal finally came 10 minutes from time when Vokes forced an error in the Edmonton defence for Agyei, fresh from his senior debut at Liverpool last Sunday, to roll the ball into an empty net.













But the Canadian outfit did get some reward when a mis-placed pass from Flanagan allowed El Salvador international Dustin Corea to fire into the top corner a minute from the end of a useful run-out for the Clarets, as Defour and his first-team colleagues got some valuable game-time into their legs ahead of the weekend trip to Sunderland.





Burnley: Pope; Darikwa, Long, Tarkowski, Flanagan; Trialist, Defour (Birch 70), Westwood, McNeil (Thomas 85); Vokes, Agyei. Substitutes: Dunne, Mitchell.





Dwight McNeil wins the header







