OWEN Coyle has backed Burnley fans to keep providing the springboard to Turf Moor wins.

Since embarking on a run of just one defeat in 14 games in mid-August, his side have won six at home and drawn two.

And Coyle believes the Clarets faithful must take a lot of the credit for creating a fortress.

“The atmosphere’s been great, and I think that helps,” he said.

“They’ve been vocal and coming out in their numbers, and that’s what we want to keep going.

“It certainly helps the players, and hopefully then the players help the fans.

“I think if we can marry that together then it’s a good balance, and it’s certainly a springboard to keep going to try to win our home matches.

“We’ve been in terrific form and we want that to continue.”

Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Reading lifted Burnley back into the play-off spots. But with just six points the difference between fifth and 16th places, Coyle knows they can’t afford to rest on their laurels.

“I don’t look back - we are where we are,” he said.

“I do believe we should have more points than we’ve got but we can’t affect anything behind us. We can affect what’s in front of us, and that starts (today) with the biggest game of the season. There’s no doubt about it.

“Nobody’s getting carried away here. We’re working hard, and there were 10 minutes the other night when we rode our luck a bit. Brian (Jensen) made a couple of big saves, although we’d very good chances in the game, but we have to keep bringing that to games.

“We’ll have to be at our best, bring that work ethic we’ve got, that honesty and integrity on a game-to-game basis, and if we do that we know that we can win games in the Championship.”