Burnley boss sends 12-game 'foot to the floor' promotion race warning to Sheffield United and Leeds
Sheffield United’s five-point gap on Burnley could be cut by more than half this evening.
Scott Parker insists Burnley must put their ‘foot to the floor’ with 12 games left to replace one of Leeds United or Sheffield United in the Championship’s top two.
Burnley suffered their first defeat in almost four months on Saturday, with a 3-0 defeat at Lancashire rivals Preston North End knocking them out of the FA Cup and ending an incredible nine-game run without conceding. United increased their gap on the Clarets to five points following their 2-1 win at QPR, although that can be reduced back to two points if Scott Parker’s side win their game in hand at Cardiff City this evening.
That trip to Wales is the first of Burnley’s final dozen games and FA Cup elimination means none of the top-four have anything else to focus on but automatic promotion. With league leaders Leeds not in action at Portsmouth until Sunday, United and Burnley both have the chance to bunch the top three together, and Parker hopes his side can now really kick into gear.
Parker’s promotion message
“That's us now, yeah,” he told the Burnley Express. “That's exactly where we are. One focus now. We're not in any of these cup competitions no more. There's only one focus. Twelve games left now. Let's go and put our foot straight down to the floor and try and grind out as many points as we can to get us over this line.
“That's exactly what our aim is and that's exactly what we'll be doing. We're disappointed to be out of the cup, of course we are, but now let’s put our foot to the floor and let's see where we can take ourselves at the end of these next 12 games.”
The test for Burnley will be how they react to losing what appeared to be an air of invincibility at the back. Granted, Parker rotated heavily for the cup clash but with goals still so hard to come by, it is imperative his side remain defensively solid.
Cardiff bounceback crucial
Burnley’s previous defeat - a 1-0 loss at Millwall back in November - was followed up with a goalless stalemate at West Brom to make it four straight games without victory at the time. But Parker is expecting a stronger reaction this time round.
“I always judge a human being on adversity to be quite honest with you and these players know that too well,” the Clarets boss added. “Since the minute I've walked in here, the real test of a character is when someone gets a little jab on the nose or someone needs a little bit of support and what's the reaction we're going to get.
“These players will be under no illusions of the reaction we need to bring now after one defeat and like you just said the number it is so we'll regroup. I know my players and I know they'll come back and they'll give everything like they've done for the majority of this year.”
Both Burnley and United have plenty of time to find their form, and possibly all but secure automatic promotion, by the time they meet at Turf Moor on April 21 for the third-to-last game of the season. Should a top-two spot still be on the line, then that clash could be seen as a decider, particularly if Leeds go on to cement themselves as frontrunners.