“I closed my eyes and just smashed it", says Burnley striker Matej Vydra, after ending 17-month stretch without a goal

The 27-year-old, who had only made one Premier League start since November 2018, was the unlikely hero of the hour against Southampton as Burnley ran out 2-1 winners.

The Czech forward cushioned Jeff Hendrick's pass on his chest, turning away from Jack Stephens on the edge of the area, then skipped past Kyle Walker-Peters before finding the finish to beat Alex McCarthy.

Vydra, who hadn't netted since the 4-0 triumph over AFC Bournemouth at Turf Moor, described it as a 'special day' against the Saints after replacing striker Chris Wood midway through the first half.

He said: "I was waiting for this moment for a long time. It is a special day for me. I just try to help, and it finished like this with a very nice goal and three points.

"I heard this was my first goal for 17 months, so I was waiting for this for so long. I can’t tell you how I am feeling right now. I’m just happy and maybe I can celebrate a little bit tonight.

“I tried to hold the ball on my chest and I saw the right back was coming close to me so I tried to push the ball far away from him.

“I closed my eyes and just smashed it because I don’t want to be thinking about what or where I can finish the ball and when I saw the ball was inside the goal I just said 'wow'. I hadn’t felt that feeling for so long."

The former Derby County and Watford striker, who has twice been inducted in the PFA Championship Team of the Year, had been the subject of interest from Russia with their deadline this weekend.

But his teammates showed how much he is valued within the squad when racing over to celebrate his winner while each one of them demonstrated their respect for him when acknowledging his contribution at full-time.

“It is a good moment for me and a good moment for Burnley because from our last four games we have three wins and one draw," said Vydra, who has only made three Premier League starts since signing for £11m from Derby County in the summer of 2018.

"We are just pushing our performance up and I am happy about that. I just try to help my teammates.

"It was very tough for me because I haven’t played too many games, but you have to be ready because you never know what can happen during the game."

He added: “I came on after about 25 minutes and I just tried to do my best. “If you score this type of goal then you feel confident. I didn’t play for so long then I was literally blowing but I just tried to run everywhere and tried to defend, hold the ball upfront."

"It was very nice for my teammates. Everybody was saying that I deserved the goal, not just today (in general). This team is very good inside and I try to help, and it was special today.

“I slid on my knees and I nearly smashed Aaron Lennon in his face. I couldn’t slow down.

“We are very close, and I think everyone feels happy here because of the group."

With Wood expected to be sidelined for a spell having picked up a hamstring injury in victory on the South Coast, and Ashley Barnes weeks into his recovery from a hernia operation, Vydra may be handed an extended run in the side.

It's been frustrating for the forward, but his patience and perseverance could now be rewarded.

"I don’t want to say it wasn’t frustrating," conceded Vydra. "Of course, if you are not playing you are not happy, but you have four good strikers in this team, and you can play only two. I was just waiting, and the day came today, and I hope everybody is happy today.

“You never know what can be the next one and I just try to do everything, every single day in training sessions and maybe today was the day my chance came true and I tried to grab it.”