Burnley opened up Week 27 in the Championship with an impressive 3-1 win at Brentford on Friday evening.

Brentford confirmed before kickoff that defender James Tarkowski had refused to play in tonight's match amid reports that he wants to join Burnley this month.

The visitors had a half-chance inside the opening minute when David Jones collected a loose ball outside the box, but his low effort was wide of the post, before Scott Arfield fired straight at David Button in the fifth minute.

It was Burnley that continued to boss the game as play developed and Sean Dyche's team took the lead in the 12th minute when Arfield bent an unstoppable strike into the top corner.

The away side's second was even better, however, as Joey Barton sent a free kick into the top corner to make it 2-0 in the 30th minute of the Championship clash.

It really should have been 3-0 less than two minutes later when Arfield picked out Sam Vokes inside the Brighton box, but his effort cleared the crossbar. It was indeed three before the break, however, when George Boyd struck a sensational volley into the bottom corner.

Brentford improved after the break, however, and got their name on the scoresheet just before the hour when Alan Judge squeezed a low strike under Tom Heaton to register his 11th league goal of the season.

Judge almost made it 3-2 in the 64th minute when he curled a free kick towards the top corner, but it just missed the post during a period where the home side were in complete control.

Both teams had opportunities to add to the scoring in the latter stages, but Vokes fired over the crossbar for Burnley, before Maxime Colin hit the side netting down the other end.

The result has left Burnley in fourth position in the Championship table, while Brentford sit 11th, eight points off the playoffs.