Kevin Blackwell worked his magic again as strikers James Beattie and Billy Sharp struck to keep Sheffield United's slender Coca-Cola Championship play-off hopes alive.

Former England striker Beattie claimed his 21st goal of the season with a stunning 33rd-minute free-kick and lifelong Blades fan Sharp headed home a second eight minutes after the restart.

Andy Cole pulled a goal back for Burnley with 10 minutes remaining but United held on to record their sixth win in 11 Championship outings under Blackwell and leapfrog the Clarets in the table.

When Bryan Robson was ushered out of the door at Bramall Lane in mid-February, the Blades were on their knees.

A relegation fight seemed more likely than a crack at the play-offs but former Leeds and Luton boss Blackwell has transformed United into one of the Championship's form teams.

Backed by a large and vociferous following at Turf Moor, they were certainly unrecognisable from the side which struggled so badly under Robson.

Vibrant from the outset, United almost led in the ninth minute when Michael Tonge delivered a whipped cross from the right towards Beattie, who rose high to plant a firm header goalwards.

Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen tipped his effort over the crossbar but with 38-year-old Gary Speed a steadying influence in the middle of the park, the Blades were largely dominant.

They broke quickly to open the scoring when on-loan Wigan forward David Cotterill embarked on a run from inside his own half deep into Burnley territory shortly after the half-hour mark.

As he looked to skip past David Unsworth at pace, Cotterill was cynically hacked down by the former Blades defender.

Unsworth - whose match-winning penalty for Wigan at Bramall Lane relegated United from the Barclays Premier League on the final day of last season - was shown a yellow card for his indiscretion.

But Beattie handed out true punishment with his spectacular free-kick from around 30 yards which bore a striking similarity to his equaliser in Tuesday's 2-2 home draw against bitter derby rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

Beattie's effort against the Owls secured him a place in Bramall Lane folklore and his strike against the Clarets put United on course for victory.

However, Paddy Kenny was forced into a superb save two minutes later when on-loan Sunderland striker Cole crossed from the right and Kyle Lafferty fired goalwards only to see the United goalkeeper repel his effort.

Robbie Blake then fired a low straight at Kenny five minutes after the break when he should have scored.

Burnley were punished in the 53rd minute when the impressive Cotterill skipped past Stephen Jordan down the left flank and delivered an inch-perfect cross to the far post.

Sharp clinically dispatched a firm header into the back of the net to effectively secure the points.

Burnley, to their credit, came back strongly and a late rally saw Cole sweep the ball home in the 80th minute.

Cole was then denied an equaliser moments later when Kenny produced a superb reflex save to arry his close-range volley as United held on.

Teams

Burnley Jensen, Alexander, Caldwell, Unsworth, Jordan,Elliott, James O'Connor (Gudjonsson 61), McCann, Lafferty,Blake (Akinbiyi 61), Cole.

Subs Not Used: Kiraly, Duff, Randall.

Booked: Unsworth.

Goals: Cole 80.

Sheff Utd Kenny, Geary, Kilgallon, Morgan, Naysmith,Cotterill (Ehiogu 90), Tonge, Speed, Quinn,Beattie (Gillespie 77), Sharp (Hulse 66).

Subs Not Used: Stead, Halls.

Booked: Hulse.

Goals: Beattie 33, Sharp 53.

Att: 11,693

Ref: Mike Russell (Hertfordshire).