Scott Parker reacts to Burnley’s clean sheet run being ended by Cardiff City as Manchester United feat remains intact

Cardiff City became the first side to score a league goal past the Clarets on Tuesday night since the 2-1 victory over Watford on December 21.

It meant that Parker’s side went 1,132 minutes without conceding in the Championship, which converts to almost 19 hours’ worth of football.

When asked if he was surprised to finally concede, Parker said: “Not really.

“I was surprised with the way it went in, to be fair, because it was probably a little bit uncharacteristic from us. It was a little bit sloppy.

“They turned over the ball well in that area and then, obviously, I was a little bit surprised. But overall, however many clean sheets we've had this year and the record we broke, we've been immense.”

As Parker touched upon, it was a surprisingly sloppy goal to concede from Burnley’s perspective, as Cardiff were able to win the ball back high up the pitch after Marcus Edwards’ weak backpass sold Connor Roberts short.

The ball was then played into the box for Yousef Salech to head home, although it actually appeared to come off his shoulder.

“We'll have to review it,” Parker said.

“I felt that we probably were at fault in a couple of moments regarding that goal and it's disappointing.

“We've been rock solid this year though. It's a shame that we've conceded, but I’m pleased we've won.”

While Burnley missed out on the chance to match or break the English record of consecutive clean sheets, which stands at 14 by Manchester United during the 2008/09 campaign, Parker knows there’s a far bigger picture to concentrate on.

“While of course we've prided ourselves on us being rock-solid, overall our main focus is winning games,” he added.

“It's something we're very proud of and we'll go over and see where we can fix that. But overall, immensely proud of the team and what they've done defensively.

“Winning, that's what it's all about now. We need to keep picking up three points.

“We’ve had some tough fixtures, every fixture is a tough fixture. Cardiff are fighting down there. We knew this would be a tough game and it proved that away from home.

“Momentum swung at times, certainly towards the back end of the game when the crowd get up. We needed to hit the reserve button and we did that to get out of it.”

James Trafford finally conceding was ironically good news for Burnley minority shareholder JJ Watt, as it meant he no longer had to come out of retirement and play for Trafford’s favourite NFL the Cincinnati Bengals.

Watt has previously agreed in a bet with Trafford that he would return to the sport if Trafford were to go the remainder of the season without conceding.

"Cincinnati, that was a fun ride,” Watt wrote on X.

“Hope you enjoyed getting to know a bit about Burnley and our squad.

“What an unbelievable run for Traff & the boys. An improbable bond formed from across the pond. Bengals fans are welcome on Turf Moor any time.

“As for me: A feast and a drink await.”