Burnley FC boss Laws ‘shocked’ at failure to win

The Clarets were condemned to their second consecutive goalless stalemate in the Championship, their first on home territory since Doncaster Rovers in November 2008, despite conjuring up 28 attempts on goal.

Skipper Graham Alexander also lost his 100% record for the Clarets from the spot on his 19th attempt while the woodwork and David James came to City’s rescue on numerous occasions.

Laws said: “You could see the silence and more of a shock the fact that we hadn’t won the game. I suppose we’ve seen real positivity in front of goal, I think we had something like 25 attempts at goal and David James has had to pull off 11 saves.

“The goalposts and bar have been very supportive but the disappointing thing is that we know we’ve dropped two points. Had we got one I think we’d have moved on and got more but you’ve got to give credit to the opposition, they came with a game plan to stop the flow.

“They obviously seen us midweek and thought they’d slow the game down a hell of a lot. Surprisingly we only got three minutes of extra time when quite clearly there was more than that; even when you put the subs on that it would have been more.”

Now, with the help of a little ‘Lady Luck’, Laws is praying for early goals in the future which he feels would spark a goal-fest from his Turf Moor talent. The Clarets have registered just one early strike at present, Chris Iwelumo’s ninth minute header in the 4-3 victory over rivals Preston North End, while nine have come in first half stoppage time or later.

Laws added: “We’re crying out for that bit of luck, particularly in front of goal but you can’t blame the players or have a go at them for their efforts and commitment they’ve shown out there.

“We were so unlucky in front of goal. On another day we could have had three, four or maybe five.

“Early goals do help you and settle you down and I wouldn’t say that we haven’t been missing the target or haven’t had the opportunities to score; we have on occasions scored early but sometimes you’ve got to give credit to the opposition.

“It’s frustrating rather than anything else. We are dominating yet frustratingly not winning the games but it will come.

“I think any manager will tell you if you continue in that same vain you’re going to win more than you lose that’s for sure and the tide will turn for us I’m sure.”

But a fourth clean sheet of the season, three of which have been at Turf Moor, earned Burnley their 10th point from 12 at home which has delighted Laws.

“We’ve made it a bit of a fortress here,” he said. “I can’t fault the players because they’ve got that desire to get into the final third and when you analyse it and you look at how many opportunities we’ve had we could have won three or four games. It just wasn’t to be.

“The positive side to it is that we’ve got a clean sheet again, the side looked solid and we just hope that we have our shooting boots on against Hull.”

“Any good side always builds its foundations at home and it’s crucial that we continue that. Tuesday will be no exception because Hull have had a good win so they’ll be buoyant and they’ll come here with a bit of confidence. But we’re a very confident home team and I’m sure it will be as good a game that you’ll see in the league.”