Burnley manager Sean Dyche ha praised matchwinner Scott Arfield and Kevin Long for their performances as we took victory over Watford at the weekend.
Canadian international Arfield was in the starting eleven as Robbie Brady’s replacement following his injury, and he popped up with what became the winner at the end of the first half.
Watford were reduced to ten men as Marvin Zeegelaar was shown a red card for his lunge on Steven Defour, but Burnley didn’t fall to the curse of ten men.
With Long coming into the side for skipper Ben Mee, he made his first start of the season to help us to a seventh clean sheet and Dyche couldn’t have been more pleased with both of the as he spoke to the Official Site.
‘Scott works ever so hard for the team and sometimes it`s that old favourite that familiarity breeds a bit of contempt and it shouldn`t do because again he has popped up with a fine goal. He grew into the game, especially in the second half, as did Kevin Long, who also did well because it`s not easy sometimes to be dropped in.’
Dyche went on to say.
‘The pride I have in the people who are not playing here is immense. When you are playing well and the team is playing well, things look after themselves in a sense, but if you are on the edge of it, it`s sometimes difficult. But the way these lads work with the staff during the week, I marvel at, and it happened again today.’
Reflecting on the overall performance, the gaffer went on to say that he felt we did the simple things well on the day.
‘Overall, it`s about raising the minimum. If you are having a quiet day, can you keep doing the right things and I felt we did in the first 15 or 20 minutes today because they played well. It was a tough game with two sides that are going well this season. They changed their shape today, which we thought they might do, so I am just really pleased overall. They started the better, but their keeper had made a great save when the red card came – and I thought it was a definite red – and overall we saw the game out well and got a fully deserved victory.’
Adding
‘The main thing for me is that we can see the group is moving forwards. Obviously, eventually you are judged on the league table, but it`s fantastic for the area and the fans. Our professionalism tells me we have to keep working hard for everything we get.’
Arfield was also in front of the media at the full time whistle and he was confident that Burnley would keep defying our doubters.
‘It was important to keep the momentum going and a good day for everybody. Obviously on a personal level, but also on a team level and we just want to keep things going. We had a stumble last week, but I think we showed the character in the team today, especially in the second half and got the three points. It was so unfortunate for Robbie because he`d hit a fantastic run of form and his ability is there for everyone to see. We are all devastated for him, but this is the strongest set of players since I`ve been at the club and the gaffer shows great faith.’
Arfield went on to say.
‘Nick Pope and Phil Bardsley have come in recently and today Kevin Long came in too and was brilliant, so you don`t feel any pressure here when you come in. We train at such an intensity that everybody feels ready as soon as you get the nod and that stands us in good stead going forwards as we look to make this a successful club.’
With Burnley exceeding expectations so far this year as we sit level on points with fifth placed Tottenham, he added.
‘The gaffer has always kept our feet on the ground and the aim was always to get safe as soon as possible. We`ve managed to get these points on the board so quickly, before the Christmas period, but this is when the games rack up and why you want to be a footballer. These are the games we look forward to the most because you want to play as many games as possible. We`ve put ourselves in a fantastic situation, and now it`s up to us to keep going.’
