Burnley ‘lacked belief’ in disappointing defeat to Brighton – Scott Parker

Burnley managed just three shots on target at the Amex Stadium, their lack of attacking threat compounded by errors in defence.

The absence of captain Josh Cullen, who is out for the season after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the 0-0 draw with Everton on December 27, was also keenly felt in a tepid midfield display on a day when a desperate Parker got few positives.

“What we need is what we had before today,” Parker added.

“Even though the results didn’t go our way, we built on certain things and there was a real commitment. We will lose games but the way we lost today was not nice and really unacceptable. We need a reaction for sure.

“The saving grace is that there are only x number of points [six to safety] But that’s irrelevant because if we perform like we did at times today, whatever the points are, we won’t get enough. [to stay up]”.

Sweden international Hjalmar Ekdal echoed Parker’s sentiments when speaking to Sky Sports, adding: “I think today is worse than the previous games.

“This game is not what we stand for or what we want to define. As a team we were weak, and it’s not there, we have a lack of belief.

“I think we’re all a little bit embarrassed with ourselves. It’s really hard to put it down to one thing, but just our mentality and our personality all on the field. The duels and everything, how we fight and go into the game, we can all see that we’re not really there and we’re not really in the game.”