Manager Sean Dyche was a frustrated man at the full time whistle in the weekend’s clash against Swansea City.
Travelling to the Liberty Stadium for the game, Burnley came out with a three two loss on the day with an Andre Gray brace not being enough to see us to a share of the spoils with the hosts hitting their third in injury time.
Speaking to the Official Site in his post game press conference, Dyche knew it hadn’t been a great performance on the day but he felt we had done enough to have ‘nicked’ a point from the encounter.
‘Performance-wide, we weren`t as good as we have been recently. I thought they were the better side, particularly in the first half. We dealt with it better after half time and stayed in the game, which I`m really pleased with. We`ve got our noses in front and then there`s a really important moment when Andre crosses and Sam Vokes almost gets a touch for a third goal. In the end, we would have nicked a point, but unfortunately we couldn`t because of a foul on Ben for the winner, which is a real shame.’
With the penalty being awarded for handball, a certain amount of confusion and television replays showing it was Vokes who got the touch, Dyche said immediately after the game.
‘I have been told since it wasn`t a penalty, but that doesn`t mean the referee shouldn`t give the foul and sometimes that`s the way it goes. Just because one goes for you doesn`t mean the next one should go against you, so I`m feeling for the players because there was no lack of effort today and it would have been another valuable point on the board. But you are only human and you are going to be disappointed when they score with so little time to go because it`s a foul; it`s as simple as that.’
Adding.
‘There is no way he (Llorente) can jump over a player like that and you saw Ben flying to the floor. How it`s not given, on that occasion, I was very surprised. I must say though, they were the better side, especially in the first half, and I am amazed at where they are. They are a good side anyway and it`s that head-scratcher when, under a different manager, players find form. They were a good side anyway and it`s always been tough coming down here.’
With the defeat seeing us sit nine points clear of the dropzone with eleven games left to play, Dyche knew overall he had to be more than content with how our season has gone, but he was still taking in a game at a time and looking for improvement.
‘I`m not interested in that. I look at the performance levels of the team because if we get them right we`ll take care of ourselves anyway. We weren`t miles off today, but we just looked a little off in terms of energy and lacking in our sharpness. We know this is a tough division and I don`t over-think it. We are in good shape physically and mentally and ready for the challenges that come our way.’
Dyche also confirmed that goalkeeper Tom Heaton was missing on the day because he went down with illness on Friday evening, so hopefully he won’t be missing for too long.
