Source: Team_Talk
Laws refusing to throw towel in
urnley boss Brian Laws is refusing to give up hope of survival despite a 2-1 defeat at Sunderland that edged the Clarets towards the drop.[LNB] The Clarets are four points adrift of safety with just three games left to play, and look to be heading straight back into the Championship.[LNB]However, Laws and his players are refusing to throw in the towel as they prepare for crunch clashes with Liverpool, Birmingham and Tottenham, which will decide their fate.[LNB]Asked about their chances, he said: "They are slim, but they are not impossible and we still take heart from teams who have done it.[LNB]"It's going to take a lot of great belief in ourselves, and that's the most important thing.[LNB]"That's where we are gathering our belief from, ourselves, because nobody else is going to give us it, nobody else is believing we can do it.[LNB]"Particularly the media and the press will cut us off and give us no chance, but they said that last week.[LNB]"They thought we were never going to win another game, but we have and again with that fighting spirit, we will give ourselves a chance.[LNB]"It's three games, nine points and who's to say we won't get nine points? You might just say it now, but who can guarantee what results go on on a Saturday.[LNB]"You can't predict them, nobody predicts what the results are going to be."[LNB]Burnley, who have now won just twice in the 16 games since Laws replaced Owen Coyle in January, found themselves 2-0 down within 41 minutes as Sunderland assumed control.[LNB]Apart from a late flurry after substitute Steve Thompson had given the visitors hope with an 82nd-minute strike, the Black Cats were rarely in any danger of surrendering their advantage.[LNB]From the moment they forced their way ahead through Fraizer Campbell's 25th-minute opener, there was rarely any prospect of Burnley adding a second away win in the Premier League to the first they snatched at Hull last weekend.[LNB]Darren Bent's 24th goal of the season, 23 of them in the league, made sure of the points four minutes before the break, and but for the woodwork, the efforts of Burnley keeper Brian Jensen and some wayward finishing, they could have won more handsomely.[LNB]Laws said: "With three games to go, we are still in there, it's as simple as that.[LNB]"No matter what the results were today - they weren't great - we always knew we were going to have to win a minimum of two games to get us out of it, and that's relying on the other teams around us not to win a game.[LNB]"Of course they are going to win or pick up something, so we know what we have got to do."[LNB]Victory, coupled with Hull's draw at Birmingham, ensured Sunderland's presence in the top flight once again next season, and Steve Bruce was happy with that despite an anxious conclusion to the game.[LNB]He said: "I have been here long enough now, haven't I? It wouldn't be Sunderland without it, would it?[LNB]"The last eight minutes or so became a little bit nervous. Overall, it would have been unjust if they had got something out of it, but it just shows you.[LNB]"They stuck at it, to be fair to Burnley, but we should have been out of sight, really.[LNB]"We were close to blowing them away, but didn't take the chances we created."[LNB]Bruce, who revealed that young midfielder Jordan Henderson and David Meyler are close to agreeing new five-year deals, is hoping to address the club's away form, which has brought just one win to date this season.[LNB]He said: "At home, we have been terrific. We have scored more goals than we have done in a long, long time, including the time when Phillips and Quinn were centre-forwards.[LNB]"The home form has been excellent; away from home, we still have to address it."
