A PERFORMANCE consultant specialising in hypnotherapy and psychology, who has helped haul Shrewsbury Town off the bottom of the Football League, believes Burnley can beat Preston tomorrow and win their relegation fight with the help of positive thought.

And having listened to irate Clarets fans venting their anger after Tuesday's defeat against Manchester City, Richard O'Neill believes they need to shift their focus from calling for manager Stan Ternent's head.

"I can only speak from the outside but from my experience I don't think it would be a good decision to get rid of the manager. You sack the manager and then what?

"I think you need to keep cool and concentrate and I'm sure it will come right," said O'Neill, who runs a consultancy business in Bury.

He watched Bury play last season but that's where any link with Ternent ends for O'Neill, who has been working on the positive thought process with the players at Shrewsbury since September, and who believes that keeping the faith is the way forward.

He added: "I had first-hand experience at Shrewsbury where the supporters were totally disgruntled.

"What people tend to do is concentrate on what's gone wrong, not what's going right. It needs a bit of positive thinking, looking at the strengths of the team.

"I always say that the greatest resource a team has is its supporters, and if they can get behind the team for the next few weeks and say 'let's give it our best shot' I know it can be turned round.

"Football managers have gone up in my estimation. It's not easy to do.

"Trying to get a football team to play well and win is the like the Holy Grail.

"I would say always be positive, especially if people are writing you off."

"Provided all the supporters gel together with the management and the chairman and board then Preston could be in for a big shock.

"It's like the wounded animal syndrome. The most dangerous place for a person to be is with his back against the wall."

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