Saturday’s draw at home to Coventry leaves Burnley eight points adrift of the top six with only three games remaining. Throughout the week, there had been talk in and around the club of a late charge at the play offs but I was very sceptical about our chances.
Following the win at Doncaster on Easter Monday, we were six points behind Cardiff in the final play off spot. Over-hauling a six point deficit in four games is by no means impossible, but when you consider that we would have had to overtake another five clubs in the process it begins to look a much taller order.
The chances were always slim at best; our home fixtures looked relatively comfortable but our remaining away trips to Leicester and Blackpool represent tough challenges against teams vying for a spot in the top six themselves. Even if we had taken maximum points from our run in, it was always going to be unlikely that all five teams above us would suffer from a chronic loss of form all at the same time.
Having spent the week in and around the club listening to various interviews with the manager and the players, it seemed to me that they were equally sceptical about the side’s play off chances. When asked the question on Thursday, Eddie Howe intimated that he thought it was going to be extremely difficult. Howe strikes me as a realist; he knew it was asking a lot to make it into the play offs and although he didn’t make the point in such explicit terms, it was clear from his words that he knew it was going to be a step too far for this squad.
The captain Chris McCann made all the right noises earlier in the week as he talked about trying to win every game and seeing where that took us, but I think Ross Wallace summed up the situation most succinctly when he described any thoughts of extending our season as ‘far fetched’.
As it transpired on Saturday we could only manage a 1-1 draw with Coventry, and Cardiff were victorious so the dream died before it was really given a chance to gain any momentum. In the post-match press conference it was a case of the same old story as both Howe and McCann lamented our inability to beat the lower sides on our own patch.
Howe said he thought the players looked tired and that it was a game too far for them after a busy Easter, and that is a worrying sign going in to Tuesday’s trip to the King Power Stadium. The squad has become stretched to its limits in recent weeks, with only eleven senior outfield players being fully fit, and I fear the worst for our chances in back to back away games this week.
But even if we suffer defeat in both of those games and finish well adrift of the top six, I doubt any Burnley fans will be criticising Howe and the job he has done in his first full season. Charged with bringing down the average age of the squad as well as the wage bill, he has done exactly that. Results have been inconsistent throughout the campaign but that is to be expected of a young side and if that can be addressed over the summer then there’s a good chance our play off dreams will not be quite so remote at this stage next season.
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