BURNLEY are turning Turf Moor into a difficult place to visit as the battle to avoid the drop edges to a thrilling finale, but they may yet look back at this visit of Tottenham as two points dropped come the end of the season.

The Clarets were the better side from first minute to last, but they couldn’t find that elusive goal in a match that pitted two of England’s brightest young striking talents against each other.

Little has gone wrong for Harry Kane in recent weeks. A Premier League hat-trick in his last outing took him to 29 goals for the season, before he then scored after 79 seconds of his England debut.

With Hugo Lloris and Jan Vertonghen out he was given the captain’s armband yesterday, becoming the youngest Premier League captain this season. But that was as good as his afternoon got as he struggled to get into the game, not helped by an incredibly lacklustre display from Tottenham, who only really threatened Tom Heaton’s goal from distance.

Burnley have their own young English striker, of course, but Danny Ings will be kicking himself for failing to take advantage of one fantastic early chance. Michel Vorm also denied him on two further occasions.

Successive home clean sheets against Manchester City and Tottenham can be celebrated though, and Burnley have rediscovered their defensive resilience at a crucial time of the season.

This was the Clarets seventh successive game against a team in the top eight, and they will complete the set against Arsenal next week. So far they have taken five points from that run, a more than acceptable return, and exactly half of their 26 points have come against top half sides. Ten of those are against teams in the top seven, a feat unmatched by any other side in the bottom half.

With QPR and Leicester winning yesterday the Clarets will be happy with a point to move ahead of those two, and maintain their position as the most likely of last season’s promoted sides to secure a second year of Premier League football.

In truth Burnley have to look up, at the likes of Sunderland - who beat Newcastle to open up a three-point cushion - Aston Villa and Hull, rather than down, and their performances in recent weeks suggests a growing confidence that they can survive.

Yesterday Burnley were the better side and had the better chances. Had they won Tottenham could have had no complaints.

In a rapid start they gave Spurs no time to settle on the ball, with George Boyd leading the high energy pressing game. And it was through that route that Ings should have put Burnley ahead on five minutes. Boyd harried Ryan Mason into conceding possession to Ings, but from 12 yards out he shot straight at Vorm.

Tottenham’s first sight of goal came through Nacer Chadli, who saw a 30-yard drive saved easily by Heaton, and then a minute later tested the Clarets ‘keeper with a low curling effort from the edge of the box.

It was a rare foray forward for Spurs though, and they had another escape when Kieran Trippier’s deep free kick was volleyed back across goal by Ashley Barnes, with Sam Vokes unable to force it in from inside the six-yard box.

The Wales international had another sight of goal on the half-hour, firing an angled drive from 20 yards wide of the far post. He later got under a Trippier free kick but could only head tamely over.

The game was 35 minutes old before Kane had his first sight of goal, dragging a shot wide from the edge of the box.

Spurs then tested Heaton from 20 yards with Christian Eriksen’s drive from a short corner routine well saved at the near post.

At the other end Boyd dragged a shot from a similar distance wide from a Barnes knockdown after Trippier found him with a diagonal pass.

The half ended as it had begun, with Vorm denying Ings after he had collected Barnes’ pass on the left. Ings headed infield and curled a right-footed shot from the angle towards the top corner, but Vorm acrobatically tipped it over the shot.

While those inside Turf Moor were turning up the noise in the second half, the quality on the pitch was going in the opposite direction.

It was Burnley who were doing all the attacking without managing to land a killer blow.

Vorm turned over a cross from Ings which was heading in at the back post, before the former Swansea goalkeeper saved comfortably from a hooked shot from Barnes from 20 yards.

Tottenham’s attempts on goal were all coming from distance as they struggled to break down Burnley.

Eriksen fired over from the angle on the edge of the box after a good run, before Rose blasted over the bar from outside the box after Kane’s cut back had evaded everyone inside the area.

Spurs looked most dangerous on the break, but Paulinho wasted a good chance when he scuffed wide with players in support.

Burnley had one final chance early in stoppage time. A long throw was headed on by Lukas Jutkiewicz, but Boyd could only guide his header agonisingly wide of Vorm’s far post.