Jeff Hendrick puts Burnley's recent improvement down to the management and players sitting down to assess where they had drifted away from the formula that had served the club well over the past couple of seasons and how they could get swiftly back to it.
The Premier League outfit had won just one of 12 games in the run up to Christmas and looked to be sliding into real relegation trouble. But 11 points from their last five games, including a draw at Old Trafford this week, has steadied the ship and Sean Dyche’s side are currently four points clear of the bottom three as they head into a run of five games that includes encounters with Southampton, Brighton, Newcastle and Crystal Palace.
“We had a little debrief a while ago where we talked about getting back to doing what we do best,”said Hendrick, who celebrates his birthday on Thursday.
“We did that pretty quickly and got on a good run, so we need to continue that going forwards.Recently, we’ve managed to get the first goal in games, which is always massive in this league and we knew it would change if we kept doing the right things.
“That’s the main thing for us and I think even the likes of Manchester United found it hard, particularly in the first half, when we put the ball in behind them and fought for everything.
“The draw there was tough to take because of the lead we had, but when you sit back and look at who it was against and the run they’ve been on, it’s a great point.
Burnley still face a battle to stay up and despite the increased confidence levels, Hendrick acknowledged that they cannot take anything for granted.
“It’s tight at the bottom, as it always is,” said the Dubliner in an interview with the club website.
“Teams are fighting hard, as we’ve seen in the past couple of days, but we just need to focus on ourselves. We know Southampton is a big game, but again they all are.”
