We were a wall at the back
Burnley beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 with a goal from Sam Vokes to stay second in the table but it was on a night when visiting boss Dougie Freedman felt they should have got something from the game in the second half.
Freedman saw his side go down to the one goal on 68 minutes and admitted: “It’s difficult to take. I think you’ve just seen why Burnley are at the top of the league.
“I felt they were the better side in the first half. We defended very well to keep it 0-0, but in the second half we were the better side. We controlled the game defensively and on the ball we were fantastic.
“We could have created a few more opportunities but I think you’ve got to give credit to Burnley, their experience showed and they just pipped us at the post. Hopefully this time next year we’ll be in Burnley’s position because I feel we’ve got the foundations for that.”
Sean Dyche saw his team win a fourth successive home game and said afterwards: “I was just really pleased tonight against a side who have been renowned this season for being defensively sound. They have frustrated some teams home and away, but they didn’t manage to do that over the ninety minutes tonight.
“There were a lot of good things tonight in a very dominant performance, particularly in the first half. The only thing tonight is I thought the crowd were a bit edgy and that transmits itself out on to the pitch. We are not normally like that.
“We need to keep that positive feel because it’s not easy out there when you are just trying to win games all the time. Expectancy changes. We’ve been down this road before, by the way, and I said a couple of years ago to keep calm, stick with the players because they will give you everything, as they did again tonight.”
He continued: “We were a wall at the back and I thought the whole back five were solid. I thought we were just a bit flippant in that first half with the ball, but people were probably wondering how we weren’t ahead in the game.
“They had a reaction after half time and that can happen, but we were resolute in our organisation and with the ability to defend as we are doing. In the end, although the scoreline doesn’t suggest it, I thought we won the game quite comfortably and it was a great goal to win it.
“It was fantastic from George Boyd because you can panic on those situations and have a swing at it, but he realises someone is behind him and lets it run through his legs for a comfortable finish from Sam.
“I said early season that Sam was delivering good performances, even though the goals weren’t flowing. He is scoring freely now and Andre is playing his part by providing the assists. So there is a nice mixture between them at the moment.”
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