BRIAN Stock has vowed not to let Burnley’s cruel Capital One Cup crush their Championship spirit.

An eight-game winning run was ended by West Ham United in the fourth round after a contentious penalty against the Clarets.

The Premier League side went on to secure a quarter final place from a more clear-cut spot kick in stoppage time.

But table topping Burnley go into Saturday’s game at Millwall on the back of a seven-game winning streak in the league. And that is a statistic Stock insists they are determined to stretch and at least maintain a three-point gap at the top.

“It’s how you react in this league and we’ve got a very strong character in the dressing room, a great team spirit and that’s going to stand us in good stead throughout the whole of this season,” said Stock, who partnered David Edgar in central midfield following injury to Dean Marney and a one-match ban for David Jones in midweek.

“The lads aren’t too disappointed.

“The only thing that was missing from the first half was maybe a goal or two.

“We had a very good side on the back foot and we really dominated possession against a very accomplished Premier League side.

“But one or two changes for them I think was what they needed and maybe that was the difference between the two sides.”

Of the first penalty, in which captain Jason Shackell appeared to win the ball cleanly in a challenge with substitute Nolan, Stock added: “It’s unlucky on Jason Shackell more than anything.

“But the one thing we have to do and what we’ve done all season is just move on and put it behind us.

“Nothing can change that decision now and although we’ve gone and lost the game we need to focus on Saturday.

“You can’t be too disheartened, we have to move on. We put in a good performance and although the result hasn’t gone our way we’ve done all right.

“We’ve got to pick ourselves up for Saturday because these games come round really quickly.

“Although we’re out of the cup, it’s disappointing, but we have to move on.

“It gives us a focus on the league obviously and in this league you have to move on.

“If you don’t and if you start thinking about the last result or the last performance it’s going to affect your next performance.”

Burnley have now suffered just two defeats in 17 games in all competitions – the first a loss at Brighton, after Tom Heaton was harshly sent off.

The Clarets bounced back immediately, with a cup win against Preston before beating Derby comfortably in the league.

And midfielder Stock is confident they can mount a similar recovery.

“We’ve got no reason to be down,” said the 31-year-old.

“We can go into a game at Millwall, which is going to be a very hard game and a very hard place to get a result.

“But the manager’s drilled it into us that we can win every single game and that’s how we go into every game.”

Burnley will be without Keith Treacy, who serves a one-match ban after being sent off in stoppage time on Tuesday for conceding the second penalty.

The winger had come back into the side for the injured Arfield, who is expected to return to training tomorrow after missing the last two games with a groin strain.