Battered, bruised and beaten but Burnley still believe

BURNLEY will not give up their place in the Premier League without a fight but the battle for survival is taking its toll on this group of players. A week that brought confirmation of a £65million penalty hanging over the club if Burnley go down ended in defeat by Aston Villa at Turf Moor as injuries continued to mount. It emerged that Matej Vydra — who scored the winning goal against Wolves and set up another at Watford during a remarkable four-game revival under caretaker boss Mike Jackson — was absent due to a ruptured cruciate ligament that could keep him out for the rest of 2022. Ashley Westwood is already facing a lengthy lay-off following the horrific ankle injury sustained in Jackson’s first game after replacing Sean Dyche last month. Jay Rodriguez and Johann Berg Gudmundsson are still not fit and, worryingly, James Tarkowski limped off early in the second half on Saturday with a hamstring problem. ‘Yeah, that’s huge, he’s massive for us,’ admitted midfielder Jack Cork. ‘We’ve got Vyds out, Jay out, Johann out. We need everyone back but haven’t got them and it’s frustrating. We’ve just got to knuckle down like we do and get on with it. ‘We’re in a great position compared to where we were a few weeks ago. If we hadn’t got those wins, we’d be miles off it. We need to stick together and believe. We’ve got three big games coming up.’ Burnley face away trips to Tottenham and Villa before ending the season at home to Newcastle. They must pick up enough points to beat either Everton or Leeds in the battle to avoid the drop. ‘It’s tough not to watch their games and keep an eye on it,’ added Cork. ‘You find yourself thinking, “If they drop points here…”. But if we don’t get the points then we go down, it’s as simple as that. If we don’t win our games, it’ll be our fault.’ Burnley were strangely subdued but credit has to go to Villa for arguably their best away performance of the season. Former Burnley striker Danny Ings scored against his old club for the fourth league game in a row following an excellent pass from Emiliano Buendia, who further justified his selection ahead of Philippe Coutinho by scoring the second. Ollie Watkins headed the third before substitute Maxwel Cornet fired a stoppage-time consolation. Villa host Liverpool tomorrow, when manager Steven Gerrard must try to dent the title aspirations of a club where he is revered as a legend. ‘He will want Villa to win 100 per cent,’ said defender Matty Cash. ‘Sure, it will be an emotional day for him but he will want us to win.’

BURNLEY (4-4-2): Pope 6; Roberts 6, Collins 5.5, Tarkowski 6.5 (Long 47, 6), Taylor 6; McNeil 6.5, Cork 6, Brownhill 7, Lennon 5 (Cornet 66, 7); Barnes 6 (Pieters 72, 6.5), Weghorst 5.5. Scorer: Cornet 90+1. Booked: Brownhill. Manager: Mike Jackson 5. ASTON VILLA (4-1-3-2): Martinez 7; Cash 6.5, Konsa 6, Mings 6.5, Digne 7; Chambers 7 (Chukwuemeka 68, 6.5); McGinn 7, BUENDIA 8 (Coutinho 79), Luiz 6.5; Ings 7 (Young 74, 6), Watkins 7. Scorers: Ings 7, Buendia 31, Watkins 52. Booked: Digne, Watkins. Manager: Steven Gerrard 7.5. Referee: David Coote 6. Attendance: 20,891.