Clarets boss Eddie Howe has said he will take Saturday’s defeat to Southampton in isolation and to be honest, that is what all Burnley fans should do.

Yes, we were poor by our recent standards and defeat was always on the cards once we conceded early doors.

But Southampton are riding high and, despite a bit of a dip in the last few weeks, are still favourites to get out of this division.

Howe will have been puzzled by the performance because the zip and movement we have seen in some of our performances on the road was missing.

Jay Rodriguez and Charlie Austin were left to feed on scraps and didn’t have much of a sight of goal and we struggled to get any sort of grip in the midfield.

The fingers on the internet message boards, as always, are pointing towards Lee Grant but I fail to see what he could have done to prevent either of Southampton’s goals.

Granty has really grown into his role as the Clarets’ number one in the last few months and he will be as disappointed as anyone that he wasn’t able to add to his collection of clean sheets for the season.

Sometimes there is no shame in admitting that we were beaten by the better side and I am sure we will get a reaction against Barnsley tomorrow night.

Every team has the ability to ‘throw one in’ as Stan Ternent used to say and Saturday was us, throwing one in.

The defeat leaves us in 11th place in the npower Championship and five points off the play-off places but all is not lost.

We have two big games coming up this week and while neither will be easy, it is a chance for us to put this loss behind us and make another push for the top six.

Barnsley’s form has been very indifferent this term and they are most definitely there for the taking tomorrow.

There game with Birmingham City fell foul of the weather so they go into the game having lost last time out at Watford 10 days ago.

Former Claret Andy Gray has been scoring regularly so he is the obvious danger man but if we are serious about promotion then these are the games we have to be winning, especially at home.

The trip to Reading on Friday will be a lot harder because they are on a decent run at the moment.

Brian McDermott has built a very good side and the addition of Jason Roberts from Blackburn Rovers is already paying dividends.

They are a big physical side and we will have to match them for muscle if we are to get anything out of the game.

The play-offs are still within touching distance and I do think that there are around nine or 10 sides still with a chance of making the top six which makes for an exciting end to the season.

Finally I want to pay tribute to Barry Kilby who revealed this week that he is stepping down as chairman to battle health issues.

Barry has made as big a contribution to this club over the last 13-14 years as the players on the pitch and if it wasn’t for him, and the other directors, we might not have even been in business, let alone have tasted the big time.

There is no doubt that he is a fighter and I am sure I speak for all Clarets when I wish him all the best in his fight against cancer.