ADRIAN Heath (pictured) is refusing to panic despite Burnley's worrying slide into the Division Two dog-fight.
Heath was bitterly disappointed as play-off hunting Bradford scored a last minute 3-2 Turf Moor win on Saturday.
That defeat leaves Burnley in 20th place - just one point above the drop zone.
Heath though remains confident that the Clarets can pull away from danger.
"I know there is a tendency to study tables but we still have eight games to play and 24 points to play for," he said.
"What we haven't got to do is start feeling sorry for ourselves."
Heath has set a survival target of at least two more wins in the Clarets' run in but his team only have three more home games left. "We know what sort of points we needs to stay up.
"We've still got games in hand. We've still got more points to play for than anyone else. It is still down to us. But we have to turn it round. We have to get three points somehow from somewhere to restore confidence otherwise we'll be in trouble."
The manager is concerned about the number of goals his side have been conceding.
Heath described the defending against Bradford as "awful" and Saturday's defeat means that the Clarets have concede 18 goals in the last seven games.
"Bradford will be concerned that they didn't win the game more comfortably and that is what worries me more than anything," said Heath.
"Yes, I was disappointed Gerry Harrison got sent off.
"Yes, I was disappointed we let it slip after going back to 2-2.
"But they had too many chances from start to finish.
"And that is what worries me most of all.
"It is strange because the back four had something like 700 games between them.
"And then they do things they haven't done since they left school.
"If people make bad decisions at important times you pay for it."
Heath felt Harrison's second half sending off after Burnley had battled back to level terms from 2-0 was a critical blow.
"We got ourselves back into the game and then Gerry makes a silly mistake.
"From that we lost the initiative that we had worked so hard for.
"If the lad (Andy Kiwomya) had been going through on goal I could have understood it.
"But the lad was on the half-way line, going nowhere."
Phil Eastwood scored five and Colin Carr-Lawton grabbed a hat-trick as Burnley's B team beat Bury B team 8-2.
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