Burnley's James Trafford sends cheeky message to Sunderland fans after penalty heroics

The stopper pulled off two late saves from the spot kick to ensure Burnely’s long unbeaten run, which now stands at 15 games in league and cup, remains intact.

The 22-year-old played some mind games with penalty taker Wilson Isidor on both occasions, deploying some delaying tactics that worked a treat.

Explaining what exactly was going through his mind while Isidor stood over the ball on the penalty spot, Trafford told Clarets+: “For the first one I looked down and I saw my laces were undone on my right foot, so I had to tie my laces while I looked at my bottle and I did what it said on the bottle and ended up saving it.

“The second one, for some reason my hammy cramped up so the doctor came on so I spoke to him because he knows what he’s doing.

“I asked him about the penalty and he gave me really, really bad advice but I got in the striker’s head and saved it again.”

While Trafford took his time over both penalties, the England Under-21 star – who has ironically been linked with Sunderland’s fierce rivals Newcastle – inevitably received some flack from the away faithful behind the goal.

Responding to those taunts, Trafford added: “I was fully focused, it was all just noise. I gave a little celebration after it for a bit of fun.”

While Burnley missed out on the chance to go top, this could still prove to be a pivotal point come the end of the season.

While the late drama will understandably dominate the discourse, Burnley did have chances earlier on to edge their noses in front.

“I thought we were very good to be fair. We had the better chances, taking away the two penalties,” Trafford said.

“When two good teams come up against each other the game can ebb and flow. The draw may be a fair result but we could have won it with some of our chances.”