Sheffield Utd 1-4 Burnley: Vincent Kompany says he has to 'believe' in his players
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Burnley's victory at Sheffield United put them just three points adrift of safety
As Burnley's joyous fans waved farewell to the Sheffield United supporters streaming out of Bramall Lane, it looked like the home faithful were also saying goodbye to the Premier League.
Substitute Johann Berg Gudmundsson's goal in Burnley's vital 4-1 win sparked an exodus of home supporters with 20 minutes still remaining, boosting the Clarets' survival hopes and blunting the Blades.
The home side are rooted to the bottom of the table, 10 points adrift of safety with five games remaining, and the fans seem to have given up hope with three stands empty at full-time.
But Vincent Kompany's Burnley have given themselves a real chance of staying in the top-flight, now just three points away from clawing themselves out of trouble.
"You don't start having confidence because you have a result, you have to build it yourself and we have done that. We just need an opportunity to fight for it," said the Belgian manager.
"We knew there would be a scenario in our first season back where we would have to fight and hopefully we can take it to the end."
Kompany to avoid watching Sunday's game
This was only Burnley's fifth victory of a campaign which started with just one point from their opening six games, a shock to the system after cantering to the Championship title last season.
The Clarets look to be picking up form in the dying stages of this campaign, losing just one of their past seven games, but will it be too little too late?
They come up against Europe-chasing trio Manchester United, Newcastle and Tottenham in their next three games and will be aiming to pick up points to take it to the last day.
That match is still in the distance but comes against Nottingham Forest, who lie one point and a place outside the relegation zone.
Nuno Espirito Santo's side head to Everton on Sunday and victory for the Toffees would put them four points ahead of the Midlands outfit.
Asked if he will be watching the game at Goodison Park, Kompany replied: "No. The only reason I might watch is because we still have to play Forest. I will have plenty of time to watch them again.
"The nature of the opponents we play is always a difficult task but we are definitely building momentum and we cannot control what the other teams do."
'The season is gone'
Sheffield United also came up from the Championship but are staring at an immediate return to the second tier following an abysmal campaign, rooted to the bottom and winning just three games.
Chris Wilder replaced Paul Heckingbottom after a 5-0 thrashing by Saturday's opponents in December, but has failed to spark a revival and they are yet to win at home in 2024.
They have also shipped 88 goals, closing in on the record of 100 conceded by Swindon Town in 1993-94.
The home supporters that remained jeered loudly at full-time but there were ironic cheers when goalkeeper Ivo Grbic made a save during the game.
A furious Wilder criticised his players afterwards saying: "When we were under the pump, we went under and wanted to get out of there. That cannot be the case, wanting the whistle to go.
"There were a few players out there that wanted to get out of there after the fourth, I cannot accept it. It is a powerful league and has been too powerful for us this season.
"The season is gone, we still have an obligation to our supporters and league to be as competitive as we can. At the moment it is pain going through all parts of the football club."
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