Former Claret Jack Cork insists Burnley can survive

The 25-year-old, who made 57 appearances for the club during a loan spell from Chelsea, experienced relegation from England’s top tier with the Clarets in 2010 and can therefore empathise with the current predicament.

“It is hard when you are in a relegation fight,” he said. “Hopefully they will come through it because it is a horrible feeling.

“They can survive, 100 per cent.

“I know they’ve got some tough games going up, but you don’t really have any pressure with the tough games.

“At home and playing the way they have been playing, teams won’t like that.

“I don’t see why they can’t do well and stay up.

“They’ve already had some great results this season.”

The former Blue, who had a loan spell at Watford while Sean Dyche was at Vicarage Road, added: “They’ve got the stability of Sean Dyche, who I know from Watford,” said Cork.

“He’s a great manager. He did a great job last season and he’s doing a great job this year.

“I’m sure he will continue to do a good job because he is a good manager.”

Cork, signed by Garry Monk from Southampton in January, admitted to feeling an overwhelming sense of nostalgia on his return to Turf Moor.

The midfielder, who featured for the Saints in a 1-1 draw in East Lancashire in 2011, scored four times in his spell with the Clarets.

“I loved it here,” he said. “It’s a great club with great people and I made a lot of friends here.

“Just coming back today and seeing everyone made me appreciate how good it was here. I’d love to see them stay up. They deserve it. They work hard every week.”

Cork was instrumental in City’s 62nd minute winner, firing the rebound in off Kieran Trippier after goalkeeper Tom Heaton had flicked his initial attempt on to the bar. However, he conceded that he won’t have the audacity to claim the goal.

“Nah, I can’t claim that,” he said. “Bafi (Gomis) flicked it on and I tried to get a good contact on it.

“I thought I did enough, but Tom made a good save and it hit the crossbar. After that, I don’t know what happened. It was just a rumble and it rolled in the goal.”

He added: “It’s a good result. The performance from us was not what we expected. On the other side of things, we worked hard and defended well. We kept a good shape and I think that’s becoming a theme lately.”

• Clarets defender Luke O’Neill joined Sky Bet League One side Leyton Orient on an emergency loan deal on Thursday.

O’Neill, who penned a new two-year deal this summer and spent time at Scunthorpe United in a similar deal this season, will link up with the League One side until May 3rd.

The 22-year-old made 15 appearances for the Iron and lined up alongside fellow Claret Alex Cisak in a 2-0 win at Walsall on Saturday.

Previously, O’Neill spent the majority of the 2013-2014 campaign on loan at York City where he gained valuable experience, picking up 16 appearances and a solitary goal against Chesterfield.