TYRONE Mears insists Burnley's confidence has not taken a battering, despite slipping to a seventh away defeat of the season against bottom club Portsmouth.

The Clarets carved out a host of chances in their quest for a first win on their Premier League travels.

But they were made to pay for missed opportunities when Hermann Hreidarsson and Aruna Dindane both capitalised on defensive errors in the second half.

The gap between Burnley and Pompey was trimmed to seven points, while a win for second bottom Wolves at home to Bolton closed the gap to just four.

Yet Mears says the Clarets remain positive, and full of belief that they will earn enough points to survive, despite picking up only one on the road from a possible 24.

“The frustrating thing is, although we're conceding goals it's not like we're getting battered in the game; we're controlling games. It's just stupid errors that we're making and it's costing us,”

said the fullback.

“We played quite well and I felt we should have been taking points off Portsmouth but again it's slack defending. We turned off at the wrong time and we've been punished for it.

“It's happened a lot this season; we've been in control of games and been on top and the switch-off - by different players every week - has cost us.”

Burnley were looking for some return from back-to-back away games against bottom four oppostion, but must now re-group ahead of Saturday's clash with Fulham at Turf Moor, where in stark FROM BACK PAGE contrast they boast one of the best records in the league.

And Mears has called for a collective effort to get back on track.

“Going forward we need to convert chances; at the back we need to be more switched on and be defensively tight. It's not just the keeper and the back four, everybody's involved,” he said.

“We were definitely confident (going into the game). The manager helps in that.

“We're getting lots of possession away from home, we're creating chances, it's just not going for us at the minute.

“When we're creating so many chances we just want to score that goal.

“(Their goalkeeper) played well and made some really good saves. It's just disappointing that a team that's going to be around us at the end has taken points off us.

“Portsmouth didn't really have that many chances, but the ones they did they've taken them.

“We need to bounce back against Fulham. The manager's very positive and he'll get us going again.

“But certainly to stay in this league we need to start picking points up away from home.”