Burnley boss Sean Dyche admitted there was a feeling of relief after his side registered their first win in nine Premier League matches with a 1-0 home victory over Brighton.
The goal came in the 40th minute when Jack Cork hit a shot and the ball went in off James Tarkowski’s chest.
Having survived Brighton’s pressure in the second half to secure what was only their third league win of the season, the Clarets moved up from second-bottom to 17th in the table.
Dyche, whose side had lost six of their previous eight games, said: “I think it’s been a tough early period of the season.
“We are kind of getting back to where I think we should be performance-wise, but then you’ve got to turn performances into results.
“I think we’ve actually played better than we did today but the basics were done very well.
“The quality of the shape, the importance of the details, the resilience that the side showed many times – those features are coming back into the side, and I’ve always said that gives you a base to work from.
“We still know we can play better with the ball, that technically we can find better moments. We had four or five during the game, and two or three particularly second half that were clear breakaway situations, on the counter, where we should do better, and then we kill the game off.
“I think there’s a mixture of joy at a win but also a bit of relief because we’ve been on a tough run, and everyone feels it.
“The crowd felt it right at the end when they were putting corners in and spinning it in the box from everywhere, that bit of nervousness. But you get that one closed off like we did and then see what comes next.
“We’ve ground one out today.”
Early in the second half Burnley had appeals for a penalty rejected by referee Martin Atkinson after Yves Bissouma had his boot high as he made a clearance and Phil Bardsley went down.
Dyche said: “We still can’t get that elusive penalty. I don’t know what incident is going to have to occur, but when it does, I hope it’s something that really counts for us.
“There are two shouts today. Bruno gets done on the run by Robbie Brady and body-checks him. That was a maybe, but you’ve seen them given.
“The one on Bardo – he’s got kicked in the head more or less. There’s no malice, by the way, I must make that clear. But anywhere on the pitch that is dangerous play. For me that has to be a penalty.
“We’ve got to start getting a fair share. We haven’t had one in 58 (games).”
Brighton substitute Jurgen Locadia failed to make the most of a great opportunity in the 83rd minute as he headed over the bar.
Seagulls boss Chris Hughton, whose side dropped a place to 11th, said: “I thought we were the better team.
“It was the type of game where you felt there weren’t going to be many chances, up against a team that are quite direct.
“It was a scrappy goal we conceded and I thought we had the best chance of the game through Locadia.
“I thought we were the side who looked more likely to score. So, yes, disappointed. I felt today our performance deserved more than what we got.”
