Burnley still believing despite drawing a blank against Watford

Sean Dyche insisted Burnley can still get themselves out of trouble after their crunch Premier League match against fellow relegation candidates Watford ended in a goalless draw on Saturday night.

A series of postponements meant this was only Burnley’s fourth league game since mid-December, but they have belatedly reached the midpoint of the campaign with only one win from 19 – no side has come this far with one or fewer victories and survived since West Brom in 2004-05.

Burnley sit bottom of the table, three points adrift of Norwich in 17th, and though they still have games in hand, they must find an answer to their goalscoring problems if they are to take advantage of any of them.

With Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea the next visitors to Turf Moor, a fixture against a Watford side who had taken only one point from a possible 24 – a run which cost Claudio Ranieri his job – was a clear opportunity, but one Burnley could not take.

“If it is as easy to take what you describe as a missed opportunity then everyone would take them and win every week,” Dyche said.

“I think it is a performance which could have got a win but we didn’t get it and that has been sort of the story of the season.

“So now it is about adding to what we are doing, keeping the base which has to be right in terms of clean sheets, but we have got to start turning draws into wins and sometimes turning what looks like a game that is getting away from you into a draw.

“We have done that historically and we have got to do it again.”

The games will pile up for Burnley as they make up for lost time, but Dyche sees that as an opportunity, pointing to the runs the Clarets have used in each of the last two seasons to pull clear of trouble.

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