Scott Parker lauds Burnley players for being up for fight after Bournemouth draw

Burnley manager Scott Parker praised his players for being up for the fight after watching them come back to claim a dramatic 1-1 draw at Bournemouth thanks to Armando Broja’s 90th-minute equaliser.

Antoine Semenyo’s eighth goal of the season looked like it would condemn Burnley to an eighth successive defeat but substitute Broja and Marcus Edwards combined to earn Parker’s men a share of the spoils.

He said: “Certainly with the situation we’ve been in with the results we’ve had, that run we’ve been on, we needed to draw a line under it really.

“The most important thing was the result, let’s not beat about the bush. Today wasn’t about the performance.

“We’ve probably shipped some sloppy goals this season. We’ve let ourselves down, been too open and not given ourselves a platform in games.

“But today we were solid against Bournemouth who, physically, are probably the best team in the league really.”

Burnley had struggled to create anything all afternoon but Parker’s substitutes were pivotal, and a testament, he says, to the spirit in the squad.

Parker said: “I was really pleased for Armando and for Marcus getting the assist. I think it speaks volumes for the group that players who haven’t really been around it too much did a really good job for us.

“I told the boys today we’re in an absolute dogfight and we need a certain ingredient and they gave us every bit of that.”

For long periods, this game was not easy on the eye but Bournemouth dominated possession and chances and will undoubtedly see this as two points dropped.

It is now eight league games without a win for Bournemouth and manager Andoni Iraola rued his team’s missed chances, with the Cherries only managing one shot on target.

He said: “It’s frustrating because it’s a game that we were not feeling the pressure from them. But this is the danger of being 1-0. We’ve had chances to kill it, we didn’t kill it and these things can happen.

“It’s a game that I think we were controlling very well. I think we missed very good chances. It’s cost us a lot now.”

Bournemouth scorer Semenyo has been the subject of plenty of speculation ahead of the January transfer window but Iraola refused to be drawn on whether this might have been the Ghanaian’s final home game for the club.

Iraola said: “Antoine is playing very well, he’s performing well and definitely I expect him to continue.

“I think he’s a massive player for us, this is very clear. I think he helps us not only on the numbers, assists, goals and this, but in a lot of other areas.”