Mike Jackson prepared for a final day showdown with Burnley as Premier League survival race with Leeds United and Everton intensifies

The Barclays Premier League Manager of the Month nominee for April would certainly take that scenario given how bleak the picture had once appeared.

The Clarets are out of the relegation zone by virtue of goal difference — despite the setback against Aston Villa — with just three games of the season remaining.

"I just think at this moment, however it happens, it's about just finishing above the line," said the club's Under 23s coach. "If that means it goes to the last day, it goes to the last day. It doesn’t matter how you do it. It’s just finishing above that line.

"I can’t read the future. I could say take the last day now and then something could change but having a chance on the last day is what you want, at the least. If that’s what it is, then fine."

Should that be the case then a nail-biting finale would see Burnley welcome former boss Eddie Howe and Newcastle United to Turf Moor on May 22nd, with Leeds United, currently occupying 18th spot, travelling to Brentford.

Everton's victory over Leicester City at the King Power Stadium lifted the Toffees out of trouble; a point clear of their rivals with a game in hand. If Frank Lampard's side are still involved heading into game-week 38, however, they might be required to get something against Arsenal at the Emirates.

The storyline has all the makings of a top flight blockbuster, but Jackson won't be caught up in the emotion of it all. The ex-Preston North End defender, who has previously spent time in charge at Tranmere Rovers and Shrewsbury Town, is determined to see the job through after taking 10 points from his first five

games at the helm.

"I’ve done this since I was 17, been involved in football and coaching," he said, after the Villans inflicted his first defeat. "That’s part of the world you live in; you’ve got to know how to get through setbacks or you don’t stay in it, don’t coach in it either.

"I don’t think it’s nerves. When you’re in football, and I’ve had it since the day I started, you have this thing (feeling) in your stomach. It sits there as a player, it sits there as a coach and it means you’re ready, means you’re alert, focused."

Jackson added: "You’re going to get these types of moments during a season, it’s human nature. You’re not all of a sudden bullet-proof.

"We’ve proven that in the four games before; we’ve come though everything - came from behind, got pegged back by West Ham, held onto a lead. Today, we lost a game and we focus on the next one now."