'First step': Fabio Celestini on Burnley's draw with Portsmouth in first game

Fabio Celestini believes Burnley’s draw against Portsmouth in his first game in charge was a solid “first step”.

The Clarets were left a little frustrated not to end their long wait for a home win after being held to a goalless draw at Turf Moor.

Celestini’s side dominated in the main, especially during the first-half, producing 18 shots on the Pompey goal. Burnley also failed to give up a single shot on target.

While frustrated not to cap off an improved display with a win, Celestini was encouraged by a lot of what he saw.

“The first half was good, was good with the energy, was good with the structure, was good with the offensive action,” he said.

“We have many possibilities with just 48 hours of preparation, I can be happy for the first half. The second half was a little bit different, but I understand the team too.

“When you have many changes, it's not easy to stay stable for 95 minutes. I know my team was a little bit like that during the game, I don't know when. I don't know if it's the first or the end, but I think globally, if one team wants to win this game, it has to be Burnley.

“We shoot 18 times on the goal, we are 35 times on the box. I think the team want to win a good game.”

The major frustration for Burnley was their lack of quality with their final actions in front of goal, having failed to breach the Portsmouth goalkeeper.

Marcus Edwards squandered their biggest opportunity, scooping over the bar from just a yard out.

“I say to the guys, in the end, football is right. If you give something, they give you something and I say to the guys, today was a good first step,” Celestini added.

“I'm very happy with the work in these two days. It was incredible, the work, the spirit of the guys, really incredible. For that, I'm very happy to not concede the goals, because at the moment we receive two goals per game.

“It's very important to the team to understand that we can't play with zero and we'll see after what happens in the 90, maybe. But it was not enough for the three points.

“For that, it's the first step. I'm happy with this point, with this performance, but we must now improve to try to take the three points.”