UNDER lights, in front of the cameras, Kieran Trippier is looking for action against Hull City on Monday night.
There has been little in the way of home comforts for Burnley of late. But it is not just a recent problem.
In 41 Championship games at Turf Moor – across the whole of last season, and so far this term – the Clarets have won just 14.
They have drawn 15, the most recent being Tuesday night’s tie with Barnsley.
It was perhaps not the most disappointing stalemate this season.
Having scored a hat trick – his second within a month – Charlie Austin would not have expected to not win their game against Sheffield Wednesday back in October.
But it was arguably their most frustrating point. Having gone ahead through top scorer Austin’s 26th goal of the season inside the opening 10 minutes, they would have expected to build on the former bricklayer’s foundations.
They struggled to attempt to capitalise on their early advantage, though, leaving them open to a Tykes fightback.
Tomasz Cywka’s late equaliser meant Burnley have now gone four home games without a home win, while only two goals have been scored in that time.
But Trippier is eager to buck the current trend at Turf Moor.
For the 22-year-old is confident the Clarets are better than their form suggests. And he remains hopeful of that so-far elusive play-off place, despite missing countless attempts to close the eight-point gap.
They are only two points further away from the bottom three, but Trippier said: “We don’t want to look downwards, we want to look up.
“Since the manager’s come in he's tightened everything up and done very well.
“We need to keep thinking positive, and I still believe we can get in those play-offs.
“It’s not over yet. We’ve got (10) games left.
“We need results to come our way and us to win and we can be up there.
“But I believe in the team we’ve got and the manager we’ve got and the staff that we can still do it.
“We need to start again, get the result and feel confident in every game to get in the play-offs.”
He has no explanation for not following up the 1-0 win at Charlton, where a mixture of silk and steel enabled them to overcome the London club.
“Winning at Charlton gave us confidence going into Tuesday’s game and we took that early lead and I thought it was going to be our day.
“But give credit to Barnsley, they did well and they bounced back like they did plenty of times when I was there (on loan).
“They came back into the game and never gave up,” said Trippier, who insists Turf Moor does not fill the players with fear, despite the recent run.
“It’s not the atmosphere,” he said. “We’ve got a lot Burnley fans coming in and supporting us and that’s what we need from them.
“Every time we play away they bring a number of fans and that’s great to see too.
“For some reason we are winning more away from home. It’s a bit strange.
“We should have won the game on Tuesday and the fans will be disappointed, as we are ourselves.
“But we’ve just got to look forward to Monday now.”
He added: “I don’t find it tougher at home.
“It’s just happening for us away from home.
“We went into the game confident and got a good start.
“We just couldn’t finish the game off.
“We started brightly, maybe the goal was too early but we had opportunities after that to put the game to bed early doors.
“Charlie’s on fire at the moment, Pato (Martin Paterson) had his opportunities as well and I think we should have put the game away.
“We put so many deliveries into the box against teams, we need to be more clinical and put them in the back of the net – not just Charlie, everyone needs to chip in.
“We need to keep plugging away, keep the spirit high and hopefully take it into Monday and the following games.”
One factor that has gone against Burnley in recent weeks is the number of injuries mounting up. But Trippier feels the way they have dealt with the situation backs up his belief their squad is strong enough to compete this season.
Five changes were made for the game at Charlton – some enforced, some tactical – but the outcome was positive.
“David Edgar’s come in and Marvin (Bartley) and Kaca (Alex Kacaniklic) has come in and done very well – they’ve all done well to say they’ve not played that much.
“They’ve stepped up to the mark,” said the full back.
“We know the quality Ben Mee has and when he comes back it will be a massive boost,” he added.
“We’ve got Dean Marney, Ross Wallace and Duffo obviously to come back fit. We need that boost.
“They’re all coming back close to fitness so it would be great to get them back in.”
Mee’s return in particular is set to make for an interesting duel at left back, with Danny Lafferty impressing during his extended run in the side. But Trippier insists there is pressure all over the park.
“There’s more pressure this season than last season – we’ve got two to every position now, sometimes three,” he said.
“Everyone’s fighting for the shirt and you’ve got to put a performance in because there are people waiting to step in. We have players who can do that.
“Deano and Chris McCann were injured and we had Marvin (Bartley) and Eddy (David Edgar) coming in and doing a job. There are a lot of shirts up for grabs.”
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