Why Scott Parker felt Burnley took a step forward despite frustrating draw against Oxford

Despite dominating and controlling the game at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday, boasting 70 per cent of possession, the Clarets were unable to find a way past a stubborn and well-drilled Oxford side.

The best chances all came Burnley’s way, with Lyle Foster and Jeremy Sarmiento in particularly guilty of missing big opportunities to break the deadlock.

While the Clarets still lacked a cutting edge in attack, their performance was arguably better against Oxford than it was in victory against Portsmouth last week.

Despite being frustrated at not picking up all three points, Parker felt like his side took a step forward with their all round display.

When asked if he saw some improvements, Parker said: “I did, yeah. There were massive positives for me in terms of what I saw, a real control about us and a real dominance.

“Of course we can always be picky. But the fine margins as they are means if we win this game 1-0 or 2-0 we’re probably having a very different conversation saying how well we played, so I don’t want to lose sight of that.

“We did play well, we minimised them to very few chances. Of course there are elements to our game where if you dominate the ball that much you want to have more of a threat, but you’re always against another XI that are trying to stop you and that was certainly the case.”

While there were a few signs of frustration from the sold out away end on Saturday, the Burnley faithful largely stuck with the team and clapped them off at the final whistle.

“Fair play to our fans,” Parker said.

“Again it was probably a day where it was a little bit frustrating and I get that, but it was an unbelievable following and they stayed until the end and all the lads and all of us at the club appreciate it.

“As always it’s a shame we haven’t won the game so they can go back home with three points, but we appreciate their support as always.”