Burnley winger Stanislas eyeing a play-off push

Stanislas, making only his second start under Sean Dyche, curled in a late winner against third-place Crystal Palace on Saturday to push the Clarets up to 10th.

They remain four points from sixth place after Watford’s win at Middlesbrough, but after three wins in four league games, the side are starting to find some consistency.

Burnley have only conceded once in that time, and Stanislas believes if the Clarets can take advantage of the chances they create, their new-found defensive solidity will help them challenge for a play-off place: “We always try to work hard in training and try to do the right things.

“I think sometimes it’s maybe about being a bit more clinical in front of goal.

“Obviously we’ve stopped conceding as many as we had been, but we’ve probably stopped scoring as many as we did as well.

“Once we get that balance right we’ll be moving in the right direction.”

However, there is no talk of play-offs among the players, only maintaining the hard work and some level of consistency: “To be honest we’re not really thinking about that.

“We’re taking every game as it comes and working hard during the week in training, and obviously as many games as we can win the higher up the league we’ll go, and we’ve got a chance for that.

“We’ve got the quality in the side to do that and we’ve been working hard.

“It’s that consistency with results.

“We’ve played quite a lot of good football at times, we’ve just got to turn that into results on a regular basis really.”

Stanislas’ goal was his last kick of the game, with the 22-year-old struggling to even celebrate with his team mates after cramping up, and he smiled: “It was lucky it came then because I was struggling a little bit with cramp.

“It was a good way to come out of the game.

“It started about five minutes before and I could see a few lads getting warmed up.

“Obviously it just fell to me for the goal.

“To be fair it was a good finish.

“I haven’t played too much under the new manager, so it was good that that came and hopefully I can keep myself in the team and keep playing.”

The former West Ham man had netted twice against Everton last Tuesday in a development squad friendly, giving the manager a timely reminder of his ability as he gets back to full fitness after a hamstring injury: “I’m sure that obviously played a part.

“I needed to get some minutes during the week because my fitness could be a little bit better, but I’m sure the more games I play that will come.

“It’s been really frustrating, not just for me but for any player that’s on the bench and not playing as much as we’d like to. We all want to play every single game.

“There are probably 20-25 players that want to as well and the manager can only pick 11, so I suppose the rest of the lads have got to be patient at times.”

• Football transfer news and gossip as it happens in the build up to deadline day on January 31st

• The Burnley Express has launched a FREE football app which is now available to download on iPhone and Android devices.