Preparing for the Championship appeared to be the theme of Burnley’s January recruitment drive. The addition of players who had prospered outside the Premier League but rarely within it seemed to suggest a quiet admission of defeat in their valiant, and initially uplifting, attempt to punch above their weight. Yet when a pair of those self-same lower-league specialists scored here and another cleared off his own line, Burnley’s willingness to eschew big-name arrivals acquired a logic.

For Brian Laws, whose first win as a Premier League manager came after a career of more than 750 games with Grimsby, Scunthorpe and Sheffield Wednesday, both the manner of it and the result were heartening. He had renewed David Nugent’s loan from Portsmouth and signed the former Coventry defender Danny Fox from Celtic and watched each score. Their strikes sandwiched a clearance from Leon Cort, another arrival last month, off his own line. Between them, they can boast spells at Bury, Walsall and Southend.

West Ham’s ambitions stretch rather higher, but while Mido and Ilan, two of their newcomers, threatened, the result was no immediate endorsement of their recent shopping.

The first goal was a product of Laws’ frantic activity in the transfer window. Fox, the newcomer at left-back, provided the pass and Nugent a finish of casual aplomb. Yet it also owed much to the negligence of the West Ham defence, allowing Fox’s arrowed ball to travel some 50 yards before Matthew Upson misjudged the flight of it. Nugent left Robert Green stranded with his deft lob.

Burnley’s second was a similarly classy finish. After Jack Collison barged over Tyrone Mears, Fox curled in an unstoppable free-kick from an acute angle.

Another debutant had an opportunity to open his account. Benni McCarthy had the chance to supply an eloquent response to the Burnley supporters who remembered his recent past at Blackburn. After an injection of drive from Scott Parker, his weighted ball allowed McCarthy to defeat Brian Jensen. His shot lacked the power to beat the covering Cort.

Injured at the end of the first half, McCarthy did not re-emerge after the interval, affording Mido a bow. His first touch was a well-struck shot that ended up among the visiting fans behind Jensen’s goal.

Thereafter, Carlton Cole had a goal disallowed for offside and Junior Stanislas clipped the bar with a free-kick that bore distinct similarities to Fox’s.

A goal eventually arrived for West Ham when the third of their new strikers struck. Ilan, the Brazilian who came on a free transfer, had a tap-in after Jensen and Mido had collided while they challenged for Cole’s cross. Mido struck the post, but an equaliser eluded West Ham.

Premier LeagueBurnleyWest Ham UnitedRichard Jollyguardian.co.uk

• Parker says West Ham have ‘too much quality’ to go down
• Midfielder feels international break has come at a bad time

Scott Parker says West Ham United will soon escape the relegation zone despite their home defeat by Everton on Sunday. “We’ll get out of it. We’ve got too much quality,” the midfielder said. “This happened to us last year. We had a run of bad results when we didn’t really deserve it. We need to pick up results as quick as we can, concentrate on playing well and I’m sure it will turn around.”

Unfortunately for Parker and his team-mates the international break means they have nearly a fortnight until they resume in the Premier League with a game against fellow strugglers Hull City, whose victory over Stoke City on Sunday, thanks to a last-minute goal by Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, took them a point and a place clear of West Ham.

“I don’t think it’s a good time to have a break,” Parker said. “We’re playing some good stuff and in the position we’re in we want to kick on. We obviously need to get on the training field and work on what we need to do and get a result at Hull. It’s a massive game for us but I think every game this year is going to be massive. It’s not happening for us at times – we’re playing well but not picking up results. We’re going to have to bounce back at Hull now.”

For a club whose finances are precarious, the idea of playing in the Championship next season is particularly uncomfortable. But Parker added: “It’s too early to say it’s a relegation battle. The league is tight this year. Everyone seems to be able to beat everyone.”

For Everton, meanwhile, their 2-1 victory after seven games without a win was sweet. “It’s just nice to get three points,” said Sylvain Distin, who was excellent in the visitors’ defence. “Even if you pretend you’re not affected, you do think about it. That doesn’t mean your confidence is low.”

West Ham UnitedEvertonPremier LeagueJamie Jacksonguardian.co.uk