Heaton desperate to break away duck
Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton hopes to finally end the Clarets’ long wait for a first away Premier League win of the season at the Stadium of Light tomorrow.
Sean Dyche’s men are closing in on guaranteeing a second successive top-flight campaign, with 31 points on the board.
But only two have come away, from 14 matches going into the trip to face bottom club Sunderland.
“Obviously we are trying to get that win away from home,” said keeper Heaton, boosted by yesterday’s call-up into the England squad.
“But the performances have been much better of late.
“We have probably been on the wrong side of a few fine margins but there’s certainly no loss of belief or confidence at all. We are going about it the right way.
“We have a lot of confidence that if we keep putting performances in and keep nudging those forward then a result is just around the corner. Hopefully it will be this weekend.”
Burnley are only seven points above the drop zone and will not take survival for granted.
Heaton added: “We’ve put ourselves in a good position but there’s a long way to go.
“There are 10 games left and it’s important we go and kick on from here.
“There’s no patting anyone on the back here. There’s a lot of work still to be done and we are embracing the journey. We want to see where we can go.
“There’s no resting on any laurels or anything like that. We are trying to step on and keep moving up that table.”
Dyche says influential midfielder Steven Defour is “touch and go” for tomorrow, while winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson is definitely out as he recovers from a knee medical ligament problem.
“It’s not settled down as quickly as we’d hoped,” Dyche told burnleyfootballclub.com.