Clarets feeling bubbly after pivotal Everton win ahead of Norwich clash

Q- Did your win over Everton midweek must have lifted everyone’s mood?

Massively, yes, I don’t know if anyone can lip read watching the game but at the full-time whistle the Burnley players were in a huddle and Nick Pope could be seen mouthing ‘we’re not dead yet’ and I think that was pretty much do or die.

Had Burnley lost they were seven points adrift of safety with nine games to play, five defeats on the spin it would have been and it is looking doom and gloom.

Burnley, in the actual Premier League games themselves, lost 4-0 to Chelsea about a month or so ago having been the better side in the first half and Chelsea went bang, bang, bang in the space of about seven minutes and then added a fourth later on.

Other than that game, the biggest margin of defeat has been two goals so they always manage to stay in games and now they are trying to stay in this relegation battle as long as possible.

Q - That win has opened it up at the bottom hasn’t it?

Yes, I still don’t think there is a lot of margin for error in terms of Newcastle and Brentford, they are within touching distance of being safe, but you never know, you can sort of grab them with a couple of results swinging.

If you are playing, even on a six-point advantage, all you have to do is lose that one game while your opponent wins it and it is squeaky bum time again isn’t it?

It is horrible when you are sort of trying to get away and in this league you can lose four, five, six, seven or eight games on the spin in the blink of an eye really. It is tough, it is really tough, as Norwich fans know, as Burnley fans know.

Q - So, are you confident Burnley will survive?

I don’t know about confident - you just have that hope. Hope can be a killer at times but we are hopeful now.

You look at Everton’s run-in and it is not nice. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Everton beat Manchester United at Goodison on Saturday and then it complicates matters again but they need to play Liverpool and Leicester and Chelsea and I wonder what it has done for their mentality in particular because when Burnley’s third goal went in you can just see utter devastation and it is going to tough to pick themselves up from that.

But there is nine games, 27 points, you have got to help yourselves, Burnley have to play Norwich away, Watford away, Villa twice - and you don’t know what you are going to get from Villa from one week to the next - Wolves at home is traditionally a strong game for Burnley.

Southampton at home and again you don’t know what Southampton you are going to get. If it goes down to the last game then that would be exciting and I said I will snap your hand off now.

Sean Dyche has valuable experience of navigating Burnley through tricky spells in the past. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Q - Is Sean Dyche’s experience an advantage for you?

Yes, it can’t do any harm. I remember when he first came, Burnley were in the Championship and he started well but then they slumped, it was that crazy Championship season where I think Burnley ended up finishing 11th, but with three games to go they were like four points off the bottom three and it was just a crazy season.

During that stage where they had a run of games when they weren’t winning and he had only just arrived at the club, but his sense of calm, he never gets excited when things are going well and he never gets down when things aren’t, he is not emotional in that respect.

You get some who get carried away one way or another and that is human nature but he just has this ability to see through what he calls ‘the noise’.

Q - So, what’s your score prediction?

AI think if Burnley score first – and they found a way to score three against Everton – I think they will do enough and maybe squeak a 1-0 victory.

- Chris Boden was our guest offering insight for Burnley on our weekly show Terrace Talk, available exclusively to Pink Un + subscribers. You can watch it above