Chris Eagles was sent off for Burnley as they were held to a goalless draw by Plymouth at Turf Moor.
Burnley held to goalless draw by Plymouth
Chris Eagles was sent off for Burnley as they were held to a goalless draw by Plymouth at Turf Moor.
Eagles, a summer signing from Manchester United, was shown a straight red card for foul and abusive language with eight minutes remaining to complete a frustrating afternoon for the home side.
Chances were at a premium at both ends and although Burnley were marginally the better side, they failed to do enough to secure all three points.
Plymouth handed a debut to Paul Gallagher after the forward signed on an emergency loan deal from Blackburn on Saturday morning.
Gallagher could have made an instant impact for the visitors but failed to hit the target with a header following a cross from Jason Puncheon.
Luke Summerfield also failed to test Clarets goalkeeper Brian Jensen 11 minutes in, flashing his shot wide from just outside the penalty area.
Burnley gradually got into their stride and Eagles tested Graham Stack with a free-kick from 25 yards which forced the former Arsenal goalkeeper to make a fine save.
Let-off
Less than a minute later the Pilgrims were given a let-off when Steven Caldwell missed the target with a header from close range.
Burnley looked the most likely of the teams to open the scoring and Chris McCann had an excellent chance to mark his 100th Championship appearance for the club with a goal, but his volley was saved by the agile Stack.
Caldwell was once again wasteful when he headed wide after a corner from Eagles, and Gallagher missed another chance at the other end of the stroke of half-time.
Both sides showed a distinct lack of quality in the opening exchanges of the second half, but it took a good block from Marcel Seip to divert Robbie Blake's vicious strike away from goal.
Summerfield tried his luck from just outside the area at the other end once again but the under-worked Jensen was not troubled.
And Summerfield was in the thick of the action after 62 minutes, producing a dangerous cross which looked certain to be converted by Krisztian Timar, only for the big defender to direct his header wide of the post.
Then the game sprung into life when Eagles was dismissed eight minutes from time.
But despite their extra man, Plymouth failed to fashion a winner and Stack had to make one last save from Joey Gudjonsson to deny Coyle's side.
