Burnley boss Scott Parker is relishing being in the thick of a prize fight for a place in the Premier League.
Zian Fleming’s superb first-half free-kick earned the Clarets a 1-0 win over Bristol City.
Victory made it 26 games unbeaten, dating back to early November, and included a remarkable 28th clean sheet in 39 games this season.
There was also a huge cheer from the home fans after the final whistle at Turf Moor as news came through of Swansea’s dramatic late equaliser at promotion rivals Leeds.
The win left Burnley outside the automatic promotion places only on goal difference, with a home meeting with leaders Sheffield United to come next month.
“I’ve never known a race like it, the two promotions I’ve had were a little bit different,” said Parker, who led Fulham and Bournemouth out of the Championship.
“There are three teams, toe to toe, jabbing away at this moment and all three are looking for the knock-out punch.
“We have got seven games to produce the right hand that can see us over the line. We’ve got seven games left and we just need to focus on winning games. We go and win seven games, we’ll be fine.
“I expect there to be many more twists and turns left in this league, but I don’t really care what the other two teams are doing.
“Maybe people don’t believe me, but honestly I’m not jumping on a roller coaster of what other teams are doing.
“It’s just solely us, otherwise if we focus on that roller coaster, your emotions go up and down by every Saturday, every Wednesday when other teams play.
“It’s a big day, but only because we’ve won another game.”
Saturday’s winner came in the 16th minute as Flemming struck an unstoppable right-footed finish into the top left-hand corner of the City goal from 22 yards.
But Burnley were unable to find a second.
Jaidon Anthony miscontrolled Marcus Edwards’ superb pass soon after and scuffed a shot straight at Max O’Leary before heading wide from Flemming’s perfect cross.
The killer blow looked like it might arrive after 52 minutes when Flemming read Mark Sykes’ under-hit header back to his goalkeeper and full-back Lucas Pires followed up with a lob just over the bar.
But City kept pushing, trying to ensure a nervy ending for their hosts, although they were unable to produce a shot on target until the last kick of the game when Yu Hirakawa struck the ball straight at James Trafford.
Defeat left them outside the play-off places, but only on goal difference, with manager Liam Manning maintaining a positive outlook.
“I was frustrated to lose, but you want to find out your level,” said Manning.
“It’s around quality, speed of the ball, decision-making and that’s probably the bit we’re a little bit sloppy at, compared to what our standards have been recently, so that’s really where the frustration comes from.
“It depends on how the next seven go, we need a bit of luck. When you look at it, we’ve got a top group of lads that are going to give absolutely everything.
“I think we have big areas to improve. We’re quite clear we’re building on something, so I think there’s so much room for growth still in the group.
“We’re in a positive spot. There’s a good atmosphere, a good energy about the place and we have to keep that and bounce into next week, ready to go again.”
