Lancashire

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Burnley boss Scott Parker admitted he deserved the abuse he received from Clarets fans after their collapse at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

The 4-1 defeat left Burnley on the brink of relegation, which will come if West Ham win against Crystal Palace on Monday and the Clarets then fail to beat Manchester City at Turf Moor on Wednesday.

They are 12 points from safety with five games left after losing a 1-0 half-time lead to ship four second-half goals against Forest, including Morgan Gibbs-White's hat-trick.

Parker said: "I've got no defence and rightly so. The travelling support for 30 minutes saw a team just fall away.

"It's our job as players and as a manager to give the best version of ourselves. For 30 minutes we deserved to get booed and I deserved to get the abuse. That's what football is, I deserved that walking over there [to the fans at full time].

"It's not nice, it's hurtful and it's sad but that's the reality.

"If you open up in this division for a team like us you get hurt. I thought in the first half we did everything we needed to do.

"I'm a fan as well, I understand the passion and emotion, it's been a disappointing season.

"At times we haven't given them much to cheer about and at times I would have liked more in terms of the general getting behind us but I don't expect that really."

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Nottingham Forest and Burnley.

Here are some of your comments:

Forest fans

Ian: From unforgivably bad to ecstasy, you couldn't get two contrasting halves of football. Brian Clough said goals change games, and boy was he right in this game. Even the second half was nervy at first but our goal unlocked a freedom that was lacking. Credit to our manager, it sounds like he told them to drop their nerves and express themselves. Still lots of hard work ahead but keep calm and carry on!

Stephen: How can you go from utter garbage first half to absolute brilliance in the second half? Morgan Gibbs-White has carried us many times this season but this must go down as one of the best hat-tricks ever. Let's just hope that we don't have another first half like that and we might just avoid relegation.

James: Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. We've had no luck most of the year and now it's all coming our way. Another couple of wins out of the last five are needed though as Spurs looked a lot better.

Burnley fans

Dusty: Was at the game. Very poor other than passing back to the keeper which Burnley excel at. Just not good enough. Too many players are well below Premier League standard. Ekdal, Tchaouna, Florentino, Ugochukwu, Anthony in particular. Forest could score at will in the second half. Parker's tactics shown to be useless yet again. Where are the home grown players coming through the development team? No sign of any.

Paul: Sad and damning proof of how poor we have been all season. I fear for our prospects in the Championship next season under the same management.

Alan: When teams are in hopeless situations they can either fight or capitulate. Burnley have chosen the capitulation option. Impossible to see how the players that remain after the cull at the end of the season can be lifted and readied for the dog fight that is the Championship. League One here we come.

Steve: Complete capitulation in the second half, not one player has the passion or desire to win. Burnley are very short of a leader, both on and off the field.

Pundits Wayne Rooney and Danny Murphy join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from Sunday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal

• Aston Villa 4-3 Sunderland

• Nottingham Forest 4-1 Burnley

• Everton 1-2 Liverpool

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Burnley are set to be relegated - it is just a question of when - after this second-half surrender.

The Clarets have lost 45 of their last 71 games over their past two seasons in the Premier League and look about to be instantly relegated for a third time following promotion.

Despite going ahead with Zian Flemming's goal right on half-time, they failed to capitalise on the anxiety around the City Ground with a subdued Nottingham Forest jeered off at the break.

Forest had previously scored just three goals in eight and a half league games at home yet they then netted four in 45 minutes against the Clarets.

Scott Parker's side folded, even with Forest nowhere near their best, and there looks to be no way back. Relegation could come as early as Wednesday.

The biggest question for the Clarets now is, if they are relegated and again make an immediate return from the Championship, how do they finally consolidate their place in the Premier League?

After all, not so long ago they spent six straight seasons - and qualified for Europe - in the top flight under Sean Dyche.

Burnley boss Scott Parker, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "For an hour we were very good, very disciplined. We got our noses in front and it carried on in to the second half. The game changes on their goal, in that moment we give up two or three sloppy goals and lost our way. The inconsistencies have been paramount at times and you can see that today.

"[After conceding the first] it's not about tactics, it's about digging through the next bit and trying to get a foothold again. We didn't do that, in fact the opposite happened and we concede four. It is poor.

"The team have got scars and I understand that because it has been a long season. What you've seen today has been a replica of other games. You can see at times that is weighting heavy, particularly when we conceded. Senior players need to step up.

"I am never going to criticise our general work ethic and desire. Where we have fallen short is quality. We will keep going.

"It is a difficult period now, but it's about individuals, who you want to be and how you want to see out these last games. How we end this season will be key."

Did you know?

• Burnley have lost more than 20 games in a league campaign (21) for the fourth time this century, also doing so in the Premier League in 2009-10 and 2023-24 (24 in both), and in the second tier in 2002-03 (21).

• Only Erling Haaland and Igor Thiago (both 9) have scored more away goals in the Premier League this season than Burnley's Zian Flemming, with eight of his nine total goals in the competition coming on the road.

• Among all players to score more than five Premier League goals, none have scored a greater proportion of their total in away games than Flemming (89% - 8/9, same as Marc Guehi).

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Forest's performance

What did you make of Burnley's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Elliot Anderson returns to the Nottingham Forest starting line up after the sad passing of his mother Helen.

Matz Sels and Nikola Milenkovic also return following the 1-0 Europa League win over Porto on Thursday, which booked a semi-final with Aston Villa.

Dilane Bakwa also makes his first Premier League start for Forest since January.

Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Aina, Murillo, Milenkovic, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Bakwa, Wood.

Subs: Ortega, Morato, Awoniyi, Dominguez, Igor Jesus, Yates, Cunha, McAtee, Netz.

Kyle Walker starts for Burnley as Scott Parker makes one change for the trip to the City Ground.

Bashir Humphreys drops to the bench while James Ward-Prowse returns to Forest, having played 10 games on loan last season.

Defeat would leave Burnley 12 points from safety with just five games left.

Burnley XI: Dubravka, Walker, Ekdal, Esteve, Hartman, Ward-Prowse, Florentino, Edwards, Ugochukwu, Anthony, Flemming.

Subs: Weiss, Worrall, Bruun Larsen, Foster, Humphreys, Tchaouna, Broja, Laurent, Tresor.

This is Nottingham Forest's biggest game of the season.

It's a great chance for them to get three points, but gosh this is going to be nervy - it is going to be a very tense afternoon but they just have to find a way to win, it doesn't matter how.

Burnley are done now, they are going down - but that might not help Forest because it could see Scott Parker's side play with more freedom.

Sutton's prediction: 1-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

There are four games in the Premier League on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Aston Villa v Sunderland

• Everton v Liverpool

• Nottingham Forest v Burnley

• Man City v Arsenal (16:30 BST)

Kick-off times 14:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction to the early games here and the late match here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Everton v Liverpool" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Man City v Arsenal", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds

Image source, Shutterstock

Paul Heckingbottom laid into his Preston players after their 2-0 home loss to West Brom, claiming their display was unacceptable.

Heckingbottom felt his side were out-fought by West Brom at Deepdale as they saw their four-game unbeaten run end in miserable circumstances.

He told BBC Radio Lancashire: "The better team won. They out-fought us in the first half, I don't often say that. That was one of the two disappointing facts. The fact they out-fought us in the first half and the fact that everything we prepared for, we just didn't execute.

"Sometimes if you don't give them the solutions, you are culpable. But we knew what we were going to face and we showed them at half-time what we were getting wrong and for some reason, we didn't do it any better.

"We were better in the second half and we did OK until they scored their second goal. That was another poor goal from our point of view and we can have no complaints.

"So, yeah, a disappointing day, one of the worst.

"If you get out-fought, that can't happen. You can get beat, but not like that. I expect us to turn up and compete."