RONALD Koeman admitted Burnley’s ‘unbelievable spirit’ had made life tough for Southampton at Turf Moor – but felt his side should still have got a result.

Ashley Barnes’ goal gave the Clarets a 1-0 win after Tom Heaton had saved Dusan Tadic’s penalty.

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Koeman said: “Of course I’m very disappointed. “The start of the game was difficult, I think they started a little bit better, they played direct football and battled for the second ball.

“But after 20 minutes we controlled the game, we didn’t create a lot in the first half but from the start of the second half until missing the penalty we played great football, had total domination in the game and I waited for the goal.

“But one mistake, because it was our throw-in and it ended with a goal for Burnley, that was disappointing.

“The way they pressed, they had an unbelievable spirit in the team and that was difficult.

“That’s one of the qualities they have, they play different football than we play, we like to build up, we like to play ball possession, they play very direct.

“It’s difficult to defend because that means it’s a lot of battles and a lot of second balls. It’s a different way of playing, nothing more.”

Koeman criticised Tadic’s penalty – the Serbian’s first miss from the spot since 2011, after 13 previous successful attempts.

“In my opinion it was not a good penalty,” the Dutchman said.

“It’s strange because Tadic is a specialist. Okay it was good goalkeeping but down and not very hard. “It was a bad penalty.”