Winger Wade Elliott (picture left) opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time with a superb 20-yard volley and Thompson rifled in a second seven minutes after the restart at a bitterly cold Turf Moor.

Under-strength Albion were given hope by Gianni Zuiverloon's sweet 60th-minute strike but in-form Thompson netted again late on for his fourth goal in two games to seal Burnley's fourth Barclays Premier League scalp of the season.

Owen Coyle's impressive Coca-Cola Championship outfit bundled Fulham, Chelsea and Arsenal out of the Carling Cup and came agonisingly close to overcoming Tottenham in an epic semi-final encounter.

With one Wembley dream having died, another remains firmly alive after this latest success which left Albion to focus solely on their grim fight to avoid relegation.