Sean Dyche has admitted that it was frustrating to be knocked out of the Carabao Cup last night given the performance his Burnley side had displayed against Tottenham.
Nuno Espirito Santo named a strong starting lineup for the clash at Turf Moor, with Harry Kane, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oliver Skipp, Cristian Romero and Emerson Royal keeping their place in the starting eleven from the clash against West Ham on Sunday.
Spurs could not take their chances in the first half and eventually had to wait until the 68th minute to break the deadlock as Lucas Moura met Emerson Royal’s cross with a thumping header.
The away side then had to withstand some pressure from the Clarets in the final 20 minutes and they defended resolutely to maintain their clean sheet and seal progression into the final eight of the competition.
Dyche rued the fact that his side could not get a late equaliser despite putting the Lilywhites under pressure.
When asked if he felt it was a missed opportunity for Burnley, he told Burnley Express: “It is not a missed opportunity when you are playing Tottenham. They are a good outfit, they didn’t find many moments which was pleasing.
“It is about delivering performances that can win, there were a lot of good things. I thought the fans were terrific and stayed behind the team.
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“In the last 10-15 minutes we were on the front foot, a couple of near misses from set-pieces, and a couple of blocks from them and they got through the tie. The challenge is trying to turn these performances into wins.”
Dyche also stated that his side needed to defend better than they did but insisted that there were plenty of positives to take away from the performance.
He added: “We gave them the chances. We have to eradicate that and the players mentioned it half-time. I asked them for a bit of feedback and they said ‘we have to keep the ball with more clarity’.
“We have to keep working on that but there were a lot of good things in that performance
“It is frustrating for me to keep saying it, I know how we work and I always try and call it honestly and there were a lot of good things to how we work, the energy, the commitment to the cause and I think the fans noticed that. They are going to be important for us.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I was impressed with how our backline coped with the aggression of the Burnely forwards. I thought their style of play might come as a bit of a shock to Romero and Emerson but both of Tottenham’s summer signings seemed more than up for the fight.
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