Dyche: We Have Come A Long Way

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Performances still 'point' the way for manager

2021-04-12T12:47:00.000Z

Dyche: We Have Come A Long Way

Performances still 'point' the way for manager

2021-04-12T12:47:00.000Z

Performances still 'point' the way for manager

Sean Dyche is confident performances will lead to more points as the Clarets look to guarantee their Premier League status.

Burnley have suffered back-to-back defeats since the last international break of the season, with Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Newcastle United at Turf Moor their first home defeat in six games.

But the Clarets – who led against both Newcastle and at Southampton the week before – remain seven points clear of the bottom three and 18th-placed Fulham, who have played a game more than Dyche’s men.

And the Burnley boss believes his side is still in good shape in 15th place in the table given the way a testing season has panned out.

“It's never over till it's over. The gap is still a strong one we are more focused on the games,” said Dyche, after Newcastle had moved to within a point of the Clarets to ease their own relegation fears.

“The league table is where it's at at this stage. It's not who you're beating, it's getting points on the board.

“People forget – although I don’t – that after seven games we had two points and now we are where we are.

“If you’d told me we’d be where we are at game seven I would have taken it.

“But you’re greedy in football. We played well for large periods of the game last week and didn't see it through and we did the same yesterday.

“You always want performance levels to be right and ours are not miles away, especially yesterday. That was as dominant a performance as we've had but you've got to take that dominance into winning the game.

“You're always disappointed when you lose games. But after game seven we had two points, so if you'd have told me we'd be here now I'd have taken it all day, so we've got to be a little bit careful particularly when the team is actually performing.

“There is definitely life in those performances and that's important going into the last games of this season. But we have got to tidy up the details as they are massively important.”

Dyche: We Have Come A Long Way - Image 2

The Clarets have been handicapped for much of the season by injury absences, which were felt again against Newcastle.

The Matej Vydra-Chris Wood attacking partnership continues to fire with Vydra on the scoresheet again against the Tynesiders.

But with Ashley Barnes and Robbie Brady out injured and Jay Rodriguez absent for the birth of his first child, Dyche had no extra attacking options to turn to try and find an equaliser.

“We've got more strength in the building, but it's been a tough season for that,” added the Burnley boss, who was also without goalkeeper Nick Pope and defender Kevin Long against the Tynesiders.

“We've hardly ever had a full complement and we still haven't.

“We are stretched as we have been all season and we certainly are at the moment.

“That's been a challenge for us, but I don't want to start making excuses. That's been there all season.”