Joey Barton has marked his return to the Premier League with the winning goal in Burnley's 1-0 victory over Southampton at Turf Moor.

The midfielder - who recently rejoined the Clarets after a short period at Rangers - had only been on the pitch for five minutes before he netted a late set piece which moves Sean Dyche's men into 10th place in the league table.

It continues a remarkable run for Burnley in front of their home supporters, with the club now having won eight of their 12 games in the North-West since earning promotion from the Championship.

Both teams almost found an opening goal with headers during the early stages, but Southampton's Nathan Redmond and Burnley's Ben Mee could not get their efforts on target.

Mee also tried his luck from distance but his 30-yard strike went wide, and that proved to be the final opportunity of an uneventful first half.

Steven Defour got a decent effort on target from distance, only to see Fraser Forster make a comfortable save, before Barton made his entrance with 17 minutes of the match remaining.

The 34-year-old had only scored three times in 40 appearances during his first spell at the club, but five minutes into his first Premier League outing for Burnley he found the back of the net with a 25-yard free kick.

It sparked jubilant scenes as his side closed in on more points from a home match, but they were almost denied in the final minute when Jay Rodriguez and Josh Sims were both prevented from netting an equaliser by Tom Heaton.

Dyche's side were able to see out the additional time to strengthen their bid for survival, with the club now sitting 10 points above the relegation zone.