MICHAEL Kightly believes the Clarets need to be braver when they get their noses in front in a game after hanging on for three points against Stoke.

The winger made a successful return to his former club on Saturday and had a hand in both of Danny Ings’ goals, but it was backs-to-the-wall stuff in the second half as Burnley desperately fought to hold on the lead established inside the first quarter of an hour.

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Kightly hailed the efforts of the back four as they kept Stoke at bay for the final hour, after Jonathan Walters had got the Potters back in the game.

But he thinks that they need to learn how to keep going forward once they have established that advantage, having been forced to cling on to slender leads against Hull and Stoke in their past two victories.

“We need to be a little bit more braver when we are leading the game,” said the 28-year-old winger.

“We have got goals in our team, we know that, and we’ve got a real good togetherness and games like Saturday help us believe.”

Continued: Page 47 “We know Stoke is a tough place to come. We didn’t look at their form. We just looked at their strengths and their weaknesses.”

Despite struggling to get out of their own half for the final 45 minutes at the Britannia, the Clarets defended Tom Heaton’s goal superbly to hold on for the three points.

And Kightly, who was withdrawn after an hour as part of a tactical switch by Sean Dyche, was full of praise for the resilience shown.

“They were brilliant on Saturday,” he said of the Clarets’ defence.

“We’ve performed pretty well this season and not just had the rub of the green and we got that Saturday.

“The last 10 minutes was horrible. It was the worst 10 minutes of my life.”

Kightly, who made the team due to an injury sustained by Scott Arfield in training earlier in the week, was making his first return to the Britannia since leaving Stoke, having scored in his first and last games for the club, but he said he didn’t feel any different to normal on his old stomping ground.

“Sometimes it is difficult coming back against your old club, I didn’t feel like it was any sort of different game for me,” he said.

“It felt like a normal game and it was nice to get a couple of assists.”

Ings’ double at the Britannia took his tally to five goals in his last five starts for club and country, and Kightly is in no doubt how important his performances will be to the Clarets’ fate this season.

“Having a natural finisher (like Ings) can be the difference between survival and relegation,” he said.

“Danny is brilliant to work with, he is different class, one of the best strikers I’ve played with and still so young as well. He is going to be a top player.”

Ings is out of contract at the end of the season, and while talks are ongoing he has yet to put pen to paper on a new deal.

His goalscoring feats may lead to an increase in interest from other clubs for his services, but Kightly would rather that than him failing to find the back of the net.

“It’s good for us, if he is playing well then it means we are getting the best out of him,” he said.

“We would rather him be doing well and get his rewards. He is a great lad, he works his socks off and deserves all the plaudits he gets.”