'I'm not beaten by it': Vincent Kompany delivers defiant message after Burnley left on the cusp of relegation

The Clarets are now relying on a miracle to stay in the Premier League after Saturday’s 4-1 humbling at the hands of Newcastle United saw the gap to safety increase to five points.

With only six points left to play for, it’s looking increasingly likely they will be heading back to the Championship.

Kompany, though, insists he will fight to the very end, having expressed his surprise at how Burnley’s good run of form came to a crushing end in such an emphatic manner.

When asked if he saw Saturday’s abject display coming, Kompany said: “I never do. It wouldn’t be fun to be a manager if you were thinking this was something that could happen.

“In the end, I’m not beaten by it or defeated by it in terms of my attitude towards it. They’re a good side.

“They have got phenomenal attacking players, midfielders who are extremely comfortable on the ball and also extremely aggressive in other situations.

“This type of game, I’m conscious that it’s those moments you have, like we had in the first 15 minutes, that’s the moment you need to seize the game like this. If it doesn’t happen, you’re always exposed to a scenario like this.

“After that, I want to highlight that we never let this game die. Yes, the result was done and the score was done, but we kept going. We kept being threatening if we could. That’s all I can ask my players to do.”

Saturday’s result was a lot more difficult to take given the way Burnley capitulated after conceding the first goal in the 19th minute.

When asked if he could pinpoint where exactly it went wrong for his side, Kompany said: “Good players. They didn’t have the solution at the start of the game, the Newcastle players, and that’s why we had that momentum. But good players figure it out during the game.

“They figured out ways to expose us and then by the time we got back in at half-time, it was already 3-0 and that cost us.

“Even before the game, you’ve just got to look at their bench. It’s a good team and they deserved to win.”