Points make prizes at this stage says Arfield

The midfielder netted the only goal of the game in victory over Leeds United at Turf Moor at the weekend when stepping on the outside of Gaetano Berardi to fire across Marco Silvestri and in to the far corner with less than 60 seconds on the clock.

The 27-year-old, who made his international bow for Canada last month, later admitted that the performance against the Whites wasn’t up to scratch but outlined the importance of another three points that helped bolster their promotion credentials.

“At this stage of the season you can’t be as fluid as the start of the season and the middle of the season,” he said.

“We’re showing different ways of winning which is important and that’s 18 games unbeaten which is a remarkable achievement in itself.

“The more you get the wins the more you can push on and pull away from the other two or three that think they can catch us.

“If you look back, if you’re successful, you don’t really look back at how good you were in terms of performances because it’s the results that matter, no more so than at this stage of the season.

“It’s up to us to handle the expectation, handle that belief inside which we’ve had from the Leeds game on the opening day of the season.”

Arfield added: “We always felt as if we can push up there and challenge because the belief has been strong.

“It’s all about taking it one game at a time. It’s a cliché but it’s stood us in good stead.

“We’re in a fantastic position. Every other team wants to be where we are. There are another five games to go and we can’t take our foot off the gas.

“We haven’t been as fluid in footballing terms but the aim is to win games and if you can’t win it just don’t get beat. It’s that resilience and relentless attitude that we have.”

Arfield now has eight league goals for the term, equalling his tally from two seasons ago when the Clarets secured promotion to the Premier League, and he was pleased with his latest contribution.

“On a personal level you want to exceed the standards you’ve set,” he said. “It’s not that important in terms of the bigger picture but it is important

“Andre takes a wonderful touch and slips it in. I just had to steady myself and get a clean connection and that’s what I got.

“There are many times when you hit it and you don’t hit it as sweet so this one had a chance of going in and I’m absolutely delighted it did.

“The keeper is at full stretch but I’ve just managed to hit it so clean. It’s all about Andre’s ball to me as well.

“He sets it, there’s an appreciation of the pass because it’s spot on and I just had to take that touch and strike it as cleanly as I did.”