Monday 29 December 2014 08:23, UK
Burnley manager Sean Dyche was absolutely delighted with the way in which his side came back from two goals down at half-time to earn a draw with champions Manchester City.
The Clarets had seemed on course for another defeat at the Etihad Stadium until a superb second-half fightback earned them an unlikely draw thanks to a goal from George Boyd and a stunning late strike from forward Ashley Barnes.
And Dyche was quick to praise his team’s display after the break- as well as their fighting qualities - against City.
“It is just another marker really in the growth of the group which I have spoken about in recent weeks,” said Dyche.
“It is a point at the end of the day, now do not get me wrong, of course you are 2-0 down at Man City and everyone is thinking the inevitable at that stage, apart from us of course.
“You know the belief in the players. The way we were operating in the first half I thought was good. The first goal we question as a group, the second goal is an outstanding goal.
“And then after that, I said to them at half-time I believe in what this team is doing and what we do with them and so I just reminded them of that. There were many good things about our first-half performance, we just had to add that bit of quality to the top third and I thought that came in the second half.”
And the Clarets boss refused to accept that the visitors were lucky to score their crucial first goal two minutes after half-time, despite midfielder Boyd being in an offside position when he toe-poked the ball past Joe Hart in the City goal.
“I have not seen the offside,” he said. “If it is offside then that is maybe a scratch of luck. But I do not think there are question marks about the second goal, because that is a fantastic goal.
“How do you define luck? asked Dyche. “You have to earn it, it is fair to say we will certainly accept it. We will accept more if it’s coming our way.
“It is tough to come to places like this, they have an outstanding group of players, they are on a roll do not forget, going for 10 straight wins today, and we felt all of that could sometimes affect the mentality and we wanted to play on that.
“But at half time you are 2-0 down here and you think it could be tough, but I reminded the players how they were playing, I thought it was good in the first half, just that extra bit of quality in the final third.”
Dyche was also keen to highlight the contribution of Barnes, whose brilliant goal late on gave Burnley their much-deserved point.
“Ashley is maturing as a player, he has been through all the divisions, he has worked very hard in his career,” said Dyche.
“He did not get his chance earlier this season, he came in to question me and I told him the truth and I told him that he would get his chance and he has done and he has taken it so far. And I thought he was absolutely outstanding today.”
