WEST Ham missed the chance to go top of the Championship as Burnley came from behind to pull off a smash-and-grab win at Upton Park this afternoon.

With the leaders Southampton suffering a surprise defeat at Doncaster, it gave the Hammers the perfect chance to take over at the summit.

And they looked on course to do that when skipper Kevin Nolan gave them the lead early in the second-half.

But Burnley quickly levelled with a header from Chris McCann and then Sam Vokes came off the bench to power home a header from a corner to give them all three points.

The Hammers made the early running, but only had Abdoulaye Faye’s wild effort over and James Tomkin’s header wide to show for their dominance.

And when Nolan lifted a high ball into the six yard box, Carlton Cole and James Tomkins got in each other’s way, with the latter putting a weak header into the arms of Lee Grant.

The pressure continued and the visitors were relieved to see Matt Taylor head over after the in-form Julian Faubert played a neat give-and-go with Jack Collison before delivering a pin-point cross.

And on 27 minutes the hosts should have taken the lead when Nolan redirected Cole’s slide-rule pass wide when it looked easier to score.

Burnley’s first effort came 11 minutes before the interval as Keith Treacy cut in from the left but dragged a low, long-range effort wide of the post.

Collison smashed a loose ball wide soon after, and Joey O’Brien saw his driving run and shot deflected wide, as the half ended goalless.

The Hammers took the lead on 51 minutes when Cole flicked a long punt forward into the path of Nolan, and the skipper lifted the ball expertly over the advanced Grant and into the net.

But the lead lasted only five minutes as former Hammer Junior Stanislas crossed for the unmarked McCann to head home from close range.

The hosts almost restored their lead immediately but Kieran Trippier made a brave block to keep out substitute Frederic Piquionne’s close-range volley.

Burnley frustrated their hosts after that with Piquionne squandering a number of good positions, the best of which saw him head straight at Grant from Faubert’s delivery.

But the Frenchman did well soon after as he sent Nolan free down the left, and he pulled the ball back for the arriving Collison to steer a shot against the post.

But it was not all one-way traffic and Robert Green’s blushes were spared when his poor kick allowed lively sub Ross Wallace to steer an improvised, long-range effort a few feet wide.

And minutes later Eddie Howe’s side were in front as Welsh international Sam Vokes was given too much room in the hosts’ penalty box to power home a header from Wallace’s corner.

And while the Burnley fans’ chant of ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ towards Sam Allardyce seemed a little far-fetched, when Faubert put an unchallenged header well over, it was starting to look like it would not be Big Sam’s day.

And that theory was confirmed when Cole ended a run and step-over by crashing a 20-yarder against the outside of the post.

West Ham (4-5-1): Green; McCartney, Tomkins, Faye, O’Brien (Carew 79); Taylor (Piquionne 55), Nolan, Noble, Collison, Faubert; Cole.

Echo MOM: Kevin Nolan.