Scott Parker highlights one rare positive amid Burnley's desperate fight for survival
For all of the negativity surrounding Burnley at this minute in the midst of their miserable winless run, they’re still within touching distance of safety.
That was the mindset from Clarets boss Scott Parker following Saturday’s dismal 2-0 defeat to Brighton.
The result means they continue to languish in 19th place in the table, but only six points adrift of safety – mostly owing to Nottingham Forest’s poor recent form under Sean Dyche, while West Ham also continue to toil.
While a resurgence in form appears unlikely at this moment in time for the Clarets, who have endured an 11-game run without a win, they’re only a win or two away from really closing the gap to 17th place.
But perhaps most worryingly, both Parker and Hjalmar Ekdal pointed to a lack of belief within the squad following the weekend’s defeat on the south coast.
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When asked if that lack of belief extends to Burnley’s ability to stay up, Parker replied: “Well of course, when you're on a run like us and you're going through this moment, there's obviously that element, I'm sure there is.
“I think the positive is, at this present moment in time, there's six points between us and I don't know who the other team is – [Nottingham] Forest – but there's six points in it. There's six points in it and that's not a lot.
"Now, of course, it can look a lot for sure and it will look a lot if we perform like we did today.
“That points tally could be two points, it could be one point, it could be an equal amount of points or we could be sitting out the relegation zone, it would be irrelevant.
"If you perform like we did today with the way we went about things, you’re not collecting enough points to stay in this division – no chance – and that's what we need to fix.”
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