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Steve Tinniswood Profile Image
Burnley manager Scott Parker on the touchline at Anfield
Burnley manager Scott Parker on the touchline at Anfield
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SCOTT Parker said his battling Burnley side went in to ‘survival mode’ and gave everything as they came away from Liverpool with a deserved point following Saturday’s 1-1 draw.
Marcus Edwards’ well-struck effort in the 65th minute- Burnley’s only shot on target - cancelled out Florian Wirtz’s first half goal with Dominik Szoboszlai having missed an early penalty.
Liverpool ended up with 73 per cent of possession and had 32 shots on goal - but only 11 of them were on target.
While Burnley’s winless run in the Premier League stretched to 13 games, Parker was proud of the backs-against-the-wall performance.
“I tried to explain to the team that they were going to have to go to levels, in everything that we do, that are beyond everything that we’ve done,” said Parker. “You’re coming to Anfield, a team full of massive quality. And we need to understand what this game is going to look like.
“I thought to a man we did every bit of that really. When we were in survival mode what did that look like, when we needed to go the extra yard – we’re going to have to go there.
“When our legs are failing us, our minds can’t. I thought we did every bit of that, to come out of here with a point, which is massive.”
While Parker admitted his side had to weather a lot of pressure - especially in the first half - but said Burnley deserved the draw.
“It’s a massive point for us,” he added. “I think a well-deserved point to be honest with you. We were brilliant. We definitely had to weather certain things in the first half for sure.
“The penalty I thought was soft. Getting in at 1-0, tried to fix things a little bit at half-time, in terms of tactically and to encourage us to show a bravery about us, courageousness.
“I understand as a coach you can stand on the side-lines and see things that we need to do better or we need to fix. Sometimes that’s a lot harder when you’re in the arena of Anfield. Full credit to the players for the second half in particular, second half I thought we were very, very good. I’m delighted for the travelling supporters today.”
Parker was also pleased to see Edwards score his first goal of the season.
He said: “I’m delighted for Marcus. It’s been tough for him, certainly early on in the season where my decisions, no fault of him, my decisions have not gone to him.
“This is someone who has been incredibly professional. Has waited his turn. Some may be critical and certainly Marcus would be, that that time has been a little bit long overdue. But full credit to him he’s given us something again today, you can see that in the attacking phase of the game, he was superb.
“I’m absolutely delighted for him and delighted that he scored.”