IMPRESSIVE Huddersfield Town look to be getting the Championship bit between their teeth much earlier than many predicted.

This was a performance of passion and purpose to delight the home fans and illustrated with efficient promise that Simon Grayson’s side are going to be no-one’s pushovers this season.

While Joel Lynch’s opener on six minutes is still attracting debate – did Joseph Mills boot the ball away before it crossed the line? – the second by Jordan Rhodes after 58 minutes was as emphatic as Town’s team display.

The venomous strike – one which underlined why the club would rather have the player than the money in this transfer window – had chairman Dean Hoyle blowing kisses to his mates in the crowd, summing up the feel-good factor washing over the John Smith’s Stadium right now.

While much of the transfer talk has been about whether Town might be forced to part with a striker, they’ve brought one in – and what an excellent capture he looks!

Norwich City’s James Vaughan marked the start of his season-long loan with a terrific show alongside Rhodes.

See our match action gallery from the Burnley game by clicking on the link below

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He linked well with the club’s star asset, attacked with pace, menace and ingenuity and wasn’t frightened to track back and make vital tackles in his own half.

The fans warmed to his workrate straight away and with Burnley on the back foot almost from the off, it gave Town’s midfield the scope to flourish.

Keith Southern’s tenacity, Adam Clayton’s versatility and Oliver Norwood’s vision are already a compelling mix, and Town now have the extra pacy outlet of Vaughan to add to that of Sean Scannell.

Burnley couldn’t handle Town’s gritty determination or the amount of options they had on the ball, and it would have been a travesty had they ruined a clean sheet with David Edgar’s strike on half time, firstly because it should have been Town’s free-kick in the first place – Charlie Austin whacking Jack Hunt in the face rather than the other way round – and because Austin was standing well offside as he tried to help the ball in.

That clean sheet represented a badge of honour – or should that be medal, with Ed Clancy in the crowd? – for a back line in which the central pairing of Lynch and skipper Peter Clarke rose to every challenge.

Clarke’s early lunge to deflect over a shot from Dean Marney set a very high standard and Lynch was in no mood to be left behind.

Austin and Sam Vokes were reduced to bit-part players and, towards the end as Burnley tried to retrieve some pride through the efforts of Marney and Kieran Trippier, the signing from Forest snuffed out any threat with strong, sensible covering.

Grayson described the new Wales cap as ‘exceptional’, which says it all, and the manager was rightly pleased with his whole personnel.

Click below for our gallery of Huddersfield Town fans taking in the match - are you pictured?

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Danny Ward did a fine job when replacing Scannell, as did Lee Novak after Vaughan exited to a deserved standing ovation, and if further encouragement were needed, analyse this.

Tom Clarke, Oscar Gobern, Alan Lee, Anton Robinson, Kallum Higginbotham, Murray Wallace and Chris Atkinson didn’t even make the bench.