Burnley manager Scott Parker praised the relentlessness of his side after they moved up to second place in the Championship table with a 2-0 win away at Stoke.
Jay Rodriguez’s opener shortly after the break was added to by substitute Josh Brownhill’s late penalty as the Clarets took full advantage of Leeds’ defeat to Blackburn earlier in the day and leapfrog their promotion rivals.
Victory for Burnley, who trail table toppers Sheffield United by two points, makes it four straight wins and five consecutive clean sheets.
They have now registered a total of 12 shutouts this season and have still only conceded six goals – the fewest number at this stage of the campaign than any team in Championship history.
And Parker was keen to point out just how impressed he is with his team’s desire to keep improving week after week.
“I’m extremely proud of this team,” he said. “This team was put together practically in the last day of a transfer window.
“As a coach, and I’ve been in this position many a time, you’re trying to instil some traits and some habits in human beings, as in the 30-man squad we’ve got, that you know will build a foundation.
“And we’ve done an extreme amount of work on that.
“They surprise me every time when I stand on the touchline.
“I’ve got a group of men here that, during the adversity of what we’ve faced at certain moments this season, are the first to come in on Monday morning and sit in a meeting room and ask ‘what do we need to do to improve and how do we need to get better?’.
“I have every bit of that at this present moment in time and we need to continue.
“There’s still so much for us to do. We still can improve for sure.”
He added of his side’s impressive defensive record: “This is not just a back five that should take the credit for clean sheets. This is a whole team. This is a team that are relentless.”
Defeat for Stoke ends their five-match unbeaten run and sees them remain in 14th place on 21 points.
Potters boss Narcis Pelach was encouraged by his side’s spell of pressure late in the first half, but felt the opposition’s superior quality ultimately shone through.
“In the last 10 minutes (of first half) we were very good and we got a little bit of momentum,” he said.
“But then in the second half, when they score, of course it goes down a little bit because it’s more difficult.
“We changed formation again to try to be more aggressive.
“Of course, in that moment, it’s more difficult to press because you’re ready for another thing and then you change formation, but we were brave enough to do it.
“And yeah it’s a pity because then the second goal, with the penalty, the game is gone and they have quality, they have a lot of talent in their squad and in the changes that they do.
“The talent maybe doesn’t increase but it stays the same and it’s difficult to win the ball back against these types of players.
“But I’m pleased with the effort, the body language and the attitude of the players. They tried and they gave it all, which is important as well.”
