HERO worshipping doesn’t sit easy with Michael Duff, even after a goal-saving block preserved a precious point at Charlton to establish another unbeaten mini run for Burnley.

“It’s part of my job to stop goals, and the one on Saturday was just one of those,” said the modest defender, who denied Addicks striker Luke Varney a certain goal in the dying minutes at The Valley.

“The fact Brian (Jensen) came out and made him go wide gave me a chance.

“He (Varney) gave me a chance by having another touch, and that’s why I didn’t go for the big slide, but I got a bit of luck because I managed to block it, and it dropped for Stevie Jordan to block a second one.

“That would have been an injustice, getting beat.

“It’s what I’m paid to do though, react to situations that happen, but we earned that bit of luck. And it shows how far we’ve come that we’re disappointed with a point at Charlton.”

It’s certainly a world away from a nightmare start to the season.

Looking back, Duff has no argument about being dropped following the arrival of loan signing Russell Anderson.

But the Northern Ireland international’s powers of recovery from the knee problem which ruled him out for seven months of last season have been mirrored in his return to form this term.

It’s with cruel irony that a similar injury to Anderson re-opened the door for Duff. And while he feels for the experienced Sunderland stopper, he isn’t about to waste his second chance.

“I’m just trying to keep my head down at the minute,” said the 30-year-old.

“The start of the season was what it was, and then Russell Anderson had a terrible injury.

“No-one will feel more empathy than me because I’ve just come through that, but football throws these things up, and there was an opportunity for me to come in and stake my claim. And hopefully I’m doing all right at the minute.

“I don’t really want to talk about the knee too much because I tried to put it to bed in the summer after playing the last game of last season.

“But after the start I had, a lot of people put it down to the knee or something like that, and I don’t want to use that as an excuse, because my performances just weren’t good enough at the start of the season.

“I’ve got an opportunity now on the back of someone else’s bad luck, but you have to be a little bit selfish and look after yourself, and I’m trying to keep my head down and do okay.

“The results have been a bonus as well, and if we can continue this run, hopefully I can stay in the team. It’s the first run of games I’ve had for a long time, and I’m enjoying it.”

And Duff has an added incentive to stay on top of his game against Reading tonight.

“We gave two bad goals away there at bad times, and I was at fault for the second goal,” admitted the defender, who is hoping to make amends for succumbing to their only defeat in the last 13 games when they travelled to the Madejski Stadium this month.

“It’s funny how the fixture list throws them up sometimes, you play someone at the start of the season, and not again until the end, and then play the same team within two or three weeks,” he added.

“But it’s a chance to change the result from down there. The performance wasn’t that bad, but when you’re 2-0 down at Reading, it kills the game really.”

However, Duff believes the Clarets are more than capable of holding their own against more fancied Championship teams and feels the current crop is arguably the strongest squad he has worked with at Turf Moor.

“Consistency is key,” he said. “Obviously we had a disappointing start to the season, but the team’s gone on a run and players have come in and are keeping the shirt.

“If you look at our bench, that’s a sign of how strong your team is.

“When you look at people like Chris Eagles, Robbie Blake, Stephen Jordan, Alan Mahon – top players, and the young lads we have coming through as well, the future is bright.”