Neil Warnock, the Crystal Palace manager, has had his fair share of success throughout his managerial career, but he believes that taking his side from nineteenth in the Coca-Cola Championship to the play-offs ranks as the biggest. Warnock replaced Peter Taylor as manager last October and has masterminded their return to form.

He has the chance to add a seventh promotion to an impressive CV that lists four wins in five play-offs campaigns. “I can’t think of a better achievement in my career,” Warnock said. “To go from second bottom in November and then into the play-offs is a great effort from all the lads.

“It’s a recurring dream or nightmare. You don’t expect to score five but we’ve been positive all week and I haven’t felt any pressure. I’ve never lost at Wembley. I’ve taken teams who finished 18 points clear and won and took teams that snuck in on the last day and won so there is no formula.

“We have a 25 per cent chance. It can come down to a lucky break or an individual piece of skill.”

It started well for Burnley, with Steven Caldwell, their captain, having a header saved by the Palace goalkeeper, Julian Speroni, in the opening minute. However, the tide soon turned as they quickly found themselves two goals and a man down.

Speroni’s long kick upfield was chased down by Scott Sinclair, the on-loan Chelsea forward who is playing for his fourth club this season. The 19-year-old’s pace was too much for Barnsley’s veteran defender, Clark Carlisle, who brought him down. Kevin Friend, the referee, awarded the penalty and showed Carlisle a straight red. Ben Watson, the midfield player, held his nerve to score.

As Carlisle headed to the changing-rooms, he would have heard a second roar when Palace doubled their advantage. Sinclair’s quickly taken corner was not cleared by Burnley and, after Mark Hudson headed on for Victor Moses, the 17-year-old kept his composure to slot past Brian Jensen.

It was no surprise when Palace added a third in the 37th minute. Tom Soares made an insightful run and passed to Clinton Morrison, who went round Jensen before cutting the ball back to Soares, who was able to convert at the near post.

A fourth goal seemed a formality after the break and Sinclair capped an excellent performance with a 40-yard run and cool finish. He picked up the ball just past the halfway line and, with the Burnley defenders backing off, he surged forward, beating four men before dispatching a low finish into the corner of the net.

Morrison then collected a pass from Watson to score Palace’s fifth, and his 113th for the club, which put him level with Mark Bright in the club’s list of all-time topscorers.

Owen Coyle, the Burnley manager, was furious with Carlisle’s red card and insisted that Sinclair was offside when the ball was played. “Their lad was five yards offside when the ball was played through and the linesman refused to put his flag up,” he said. “It was an incredible decision. The defenders should have stopped him, but he was so far ahead. But Crystal Palace were clinical and if they finish like that in the play-offs they will take some stopping.”

Crystal Palace (4-3-3): J Speroni – D Butterfield, M Hudson, J Fonte, C Hill – T Soares, S Derry (sub: C Fletcher, 58min), B Watson – S Sinclair, C Morrison (sub: S Scannell, 72), V Moses (sub: P Ifill, 32). Substitutes not used: T Craig, J Scowcroft.

Burnley (4-5-1): B Jensen – M Duff, C Carlisle, S Caldwell, J Harley – W Elliott (sub: A MacDonald, 70), J O’Connor, G Alexander, C McCann (sub: A Mahon, 81), M Randall (sub: J Gudjonsson, 46) – R Blake. Substitutes not used: G Kiraly, S Jordan. Booked: Elliot Sent off: Carlisle

Referee: K Friend
Attendance: 23,950