MATT Taylor said he was “devastated” by the penalty miss that condemned bottom-placed Burnley to a fourth defeat from five games to leave them five points adrift of safety, but vowed the Clarets would keep fighting for their place in the Premier League.

The midfielder had scored pressure penalties to keep Portsmouth in the top division in 2006 and admitted he was confident in facing Leicester’s Kasper Schmeichel on Saturday, after being brought down by Paul Konchesky.

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But Taylor struck the outside of the post, and just 59 seconds later Jamie Vardy converted from close range at the opposite end to fire the Foxes out of the drop zone with a fourth straight win.

With just four games left, Burnley need a similar run to give themselves a chance of staying up. Saturday’s loss was their third in a row and their fifth game without a goal.

“Football is a cruel game and unfortunately we came off on the wrong end of it,” said Taylor, who started his first game since August after an Achilles problem.

“I was happy to stand up (for the penalty). I had enough confidence in my ability but I have looked at it again and somehow my standing foot slipped as I hit the penalty and it’s gone the wrong side of the post.

“But sometimes you’ve got to be big enough to stand up and take them and when you don’t score be big enough to take the criticism that might come your way.”

Burnley have scored only one of their three penalties this season, with Danny Ings converting against Aston Villa to earn a point in November after Scott Arfield had missed from 12 yards against Crystal Palace in September.

But the Clarets have not had a recognised penalty taker for the last two seasons, with Ings and Sam Vokes alternating last term, while Taylor has only recently returned from a seven-month injury lay-off.

“I said to Ingsy ‘do you want it? I am happy to take it and he said ‘fine’. There was a slight discussion but if he had said he wanted the ball, not a problem,” Taylor said.

“I felt confident in my ability to put it away. The most annoying thing is that the keeper went the wrong way as well.

“Obviously I’m devastated but the only way I can affect it now is as and when I’m called upon to go and put in a performance for the team.

“It’s a tough situation we are in, but it’s what you play football for. It’s the best league in the world and we have four more games and four more opportunities to stay in it.

“There are still four games left and until somebody tells us everything is mathematically certain in terms of our status in the Premier League then we will keep fighting. That’s the group of players we’ve got here and that’s the manager we’ve got here. We’ve got four massive games left and we’ve got to keep doing everything we can. That’s the realism.

“The margins are so slim at this level between winning and losing and we were on the wrong end of it (on Saturday). I thought we were the better team. I think we played well in patches and you would probably say their keeper was the man of the match with the saves he makes.

“But Leicester have ground another result out. We need to do that now and pick up some points.

“There is still an opportunity that we can do something this season.”

Despite his disappointment, Taylor said he would not shy away if the Clarets were awarded another penalty in the relegation run-in.

“I am big enough, old enough and ugly enough to accept responsibility,” he said. “Not a problem.

“Ironically it was a good penalty but my foot slipped. But that’s the way it went. I would be happy to step up again and the day I don’t have that feeling will be the day I need to quit the game because I back myself to the hilt.

“I know I have the correct ability to take penalties. Just (on Saturday) my foot slipped and there’s nothing you can do about that.”