Roman bags winner and leaves Clarets in ruins

ROMAN BEDNAR had double cause for celebration on Saturday. As if scoring the winning goal against Burnley was not enough, his manager Tony Mowbray confirmed that he will sign the Czech (pictured right) on a permanent deal at the end of the season.

Bednar, currently on loan from Hearts, struck on the hour to seal a 2-1 home win against the Clarets and Baggies boss Tony Mowbray is delighted arrangements are already in place to make sure the striker has a long stay at The Hawthorns.

“Roman is a typical centre forward. He is big, strong, fast and brave,” Mowbray said. “We are delighted he is here and delighted that he keeps scoring goals for us.

“There is a deal in place to sign him at the end of the season. That will kick in and he will become our player after we pay Hearts some money.” Burnley manager Owen Coyle was disappointed that his side failed to build on the flying start they had been given by a goal from James O’Connor.

“We made a terrific start and we tried to be positive against a fantastic side who are not top of the table by accident,” he said. “I will be very surprised if they do not get one of the top two spots this season.”

QPR’s 3-0 win at home to City came in the absence of their manager Luigi De Canio, who returned to Italy yesterday following the death of his father.

De Canio’s stand-in Joe Dunbar said: “First and foremost our thoughts are with Luigi, and I was proud of the players — they put on a very professional performance.”

For the Robins, there was no way back after two goals from Patrick Agyemang.

Charlton were another promotion-chasing team who fluffed their lines, losing 1-0 to 10-man Scunthorpe at Glanford Park where Martin Paterson got the winner and Andy Butler was sent off for a second booking.

Stoke went above the Addicks by beating Cardiff 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium, thanks to an own goal from Roger Johnson and a 57th-minute Ricardo Fuller penalty.

Manager Tony Pulis was nonetheless casting an envious eye over the opposition’s resources and concluded he needs to make more acquisitions as soon as he can.

“I would still like to bring in more quality,” he said. “When you look at Cardiff’s bench it was very strong, and we need to match that sort of strength in depth.

“When the loan window opens we will be trying hard to add to the group.”

Crystal Palace remain outside the play-off spots on goal difference after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton at Selhurst Park.

Bottom side Colchester collected a valuable point for holding Sheffield United to a 2-2 draw at Layer Road.

Preston’s hopes of beating the drop took a hit after Darel Russell scored in second-half injury time to give Norwich a 1-0 win at Carrow Road.

Ipswich finally ended their search for a first win on the road with a 2-1 success against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. Coventry striker Leon Best struck twice to give his side’s survival hopes a lift in a 4-0 thrashing of Barnsley at the Ricoh Arena.

Blackpool beat Leicester 2-1, and veteran striker Dean Windass scored the only goal to give Hull a 1-0 win at Plymouth.