Burnley's Jack Cork has his say on the battle for survival in the Premier League

Burnley's Jack Cork is intrigued to see how many points it will end up taking to secure safety in the Premier League this season.
Jack Cork of Burnley is tackled by Davinson Sanchez of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match at Turf Moor on March 07, 2020. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)Jack Cork of Burnley is tackled by Davinson Sanchez of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match at Turf Moor on March 07, 2020. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Jack Cork of Burnley is tackled by Davinson Sanchez of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match at Turf Moor on March 07, 2020. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

While the Clarets took another step toward the 40-point mark with a 1-1 draw against last season's Champions League finalists Spurs, there's still everything to play for in the battle for survival.

After stretching their unbeaten run to seven games in the top flight, Sean Dyche's side are now closer to the top three than they are to the bottom three.

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But beneath them the scrap to stave off relegation to the Championship is still very much alive as just four points separate 19th place Aston Villa and 15th place Brighton.

And Norwich City's fate is by no means a full gone conclusion as the Canaries still host Southampton, the Seagulls and West Ham United, as well as Burnley, at Carrow Road.

"We're in a completely different situation to what we were in a month ago," said the 30-year-old midfielder.

"We had a lot of tough fixtures coming up, we were near the bottom, but we really pulled together to find some form and confidence, which we needed at the time.

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"Credit to everyone at the club and the fans, everyone pulled together and what could have been a bad season has turned into what can hopefully be an exciting one.

"It's just great to have that consistency. We've been crying out for it all season because we haven't had that run of results. It's nice to have that consistency and confidence that we've been missing.

"It's a tough league this year. There are no teams that you look at and think 'they've got no chance, they're not doing very well'.

"You look at Norwich who are a tough team to face and they won at Tottenham [on penalties in the FA Cup]. All the teams above them have great players as well, internationals.

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"It's a strong league and you never know who is going to beat who whenever you look at the fixtures. It'll be interesting to see how many points does guarantee safety this year."

Defending champions Manchester City - who will likely relinquish their title to leaders Liverpool - stand in the way of the Clarets securing a record-equalling eighth game unbeaten in the Premier League.

The club ignited their recovery from a dismal start last term when pocketing 18 points out of a possible 24, which included victories over the Hammers, Huddersfield Town, Fulham, Brighton and Spurs.

Their involvement in the Europa League had certainly taken its toll beforehand, but Cork wouldn't say 'no' to another crack at the competition.

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"We're in a position that we weren't in last month - we're on 39 points and we're in a good position to start looking upwards rather than behind us," he said.

"It's getting cramped up there and there's no reason why any of the teams in and around us can't finish in the European places. It'll be interesting to see because we've got some good games.

"I loved it last time and I'd love to do it again. If we can do it, brilliant, if not then it won't be the end of the world."