Barnes believes Burnley can bounce back!

Their sixth win of the campaign against Hull City at the KC Stadium proved futile as results elsewhere condemned the Clarets to relegation back to the Championship.

It’s been a steep learning curve for Sean Dyche’s side, who lost just five times on their way to accumulating a club record points total last season.

“We’ve learnt so much as a group of players,” Barnes said.

“Even from an individual point of view I’ve learnt so much playing against better players.

“You never want it to stop, but we’ll try our hardest to get promoted again next year.

“We need to keep as many people as we can together which is going to help for next season.

“We’ve got a great squad here and if we can add to that it will be fantastic and I don’t see why we can’t get promoted again.”

The 25-year-old, who has netted five times during his first season in the top flight, is now looking to make the most of the club’s remaining fixtures, starting with Stoke City at Turf Moor tomorrow.

“It’s frustrating because you want to be in this league for as long as possible,” he said. “Unfortunately we’re back to the Championship. We’ll go out on a high, we’ve got two games left and we’ll give it our all to see if we can get two more wins for the fans.

“We’re disappointed. It’s hard to put it into words yet. I’m sure it will sink in over the next day or two when the texts come in.

“Obviously we’re gutted but we’ve just got to bounce back next year. We can go down strong.”

He added: “It’s a kick in the teeth but if we can win the last two games and give our fans everything to cheer for next season so be it.

“They were fantastic today. They never stopped singing and they stayed until the end, which was amazing to see.

“They were singing all game. I don’t think they shut up.

“Unfortunately it just didn’t work out for us but hopefully we can come back next year and get promoted again.”