SCOTT Arfield says Burnley must keep in touch with the sides above them after dropping to the bottom of the Premier League table this week.

The Clarets face the daunting task of a trip to the Emirates to face Arsenal this afternoon, when Arfield will be hoping for a result to celebrate on his 26th birthday.

Burnley currently sit three points adrift at the foot of the table after former Turf Moor star Charlie Austin helped QPR leapfrog them with a victory over Aston Villa on Monday.

Without a win in their opening nine matches, the Clarets are already five points from safety.

Arfield says time is still very much on the Clarets’ side at this stage of the season, but knows they need to stay in contact with the teams above them.

“It was a great result for QPR with Charlie getting the two goals but there’s another 29 or 30 games to play, so it’s all to play for,” said the Scot.

“But we want to keep as close to people as possible.

“We’ve got the belief that we can do that, so it’s up to us to do it.

“You need to win to stay in this division.

“Once you get a taste for this division, you don’t want to let go.

“It’s such a fantastic league to be involved in. The teams, players and stadiums, that’s why it’s important for us to start putting wins on the board.”

Arfield has been involved in relegation battles before, helping Falkirk avoid the drop in 2009 before they did lose their place in the SPL a year later.

He believes Burnley are playing just as well, if not better, than they did on the way to promotion a season ago.

“I think at certain stages we’ve played better than we did last season,” Arfield said.

“If the ball goes in the net and we get a wee bit of luck here and there, people take a different look at it.

“We’ve been playing terrific football and if we get that goal that changes the game at certain times, we’ll be off.

“My first season in Falkirk, we just escaped relegation and the second year, we went down.

“The third year, I got to the play-off final with Huddersfield only to get beat.

“There’s been a few setbacks but it’s all about how you get through these times.”

Arfield will not get too much spare time on his birthday but will be more than happy to sacrifice that if Burnley can secure a result against Arsenal.

“I don’t have any plans to celebrate,” he admitted.

“I’ll be on the coach until midnight. But 3pm to 4.45pm will be the exact same – trying to get that win.

“That’s the first thing. Anything after that such as a goal would be a bonus.

“We’re trying to get that first elusive win and the more we get of them, the better chance we’ll have of staying in this league.”