THE balance between defence and attack is something Burnley have struggled to master all season, and with just six Premier League games remaining it is the goals that have dried up at the worst possible time.

The Clarets huffed and puffed against Arsenal on Saturday, but they struggled to create chances and you were left the impression that they could have played for the rest of the weekend and not found the back of the net.

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But once again they were strong defensively against a Gunners side that had plundered 40 goals in their last 17 games and, but for conceding a goal that Sean Dyche described as ‘awful’, Burnley may well have added to their outstanding record against teams in the top seven.

Rewind to the days after the Clarets had once again thrown away a lead to draw with West Brom.

They had conceded 18 goals in eight games and faced a daunting run of eight successive league fixtures against the teams in the top eight positions in the league.

Most people imagined Dyche’s side would be cast adrift in the relegation battle when that run came to an end, but here they are, still just two points away from extricating themselves from the bottom three.

Those eight games saw just 10 goals conceded and have yielded five points. It’s a superb return for which the Clarets deserve great credit.

But while the defensive resilience has returned, it is goals that are going to keep Burnley in the Premier League over the next six games. And goals are becoming increasingly difficult to find.

The last eight games have yielded just three. It has to be a concern.

Danny Ings has struggled in recent weeks, and this run of seven games without a goal is his longest barren spell of the season.

He will be particularly disappointed to have struggled on Saturday, under the watching gaze of England manager Roy Hodgson.

Arsenal’s starting XI didn’t feature a single English player so Hodgson’s focus will have been on Burnley’s gang of domestic talents, with Ings leading the way ahead of Kieran Trippier and Tom Heaton.

While Ings was below par, Trippier was better and Heaton was unfortunate for the goal and solid aside from that.

The Clarets were, unsurprisingly, unchanged.

Dyche hasn’t had a great deal of choice considering injuries have, at times, made a small squad even lower on resources.

On Saturday it was left until the final minute to make a substitution, when the game appeared to be crying out for something different much earlier.

The home bench may not be occupied by the likes of Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck, but for all of Burnley’s perspiration there was little inspiration coming from the starting 11.

It was actually a bright start from both teams, and the opening salvo’s suggested Turf Moor could be in for a cracker.

On five minute Sam Vokes displayed an impressive turn of pace to surge past Per Mertesacker on the left but once inside the area David Ospina was out quickly to smother the shot.

At the other end a poor touch inside the box from David Jones saw the ball fall to Alexis Sanchez, whose snap shot was well over the bar.

For all Burnley’s defensive resilience at the back, they have also been their worst enemy at times this season.

There was little danger when Jason Shackell carried the ball out of defence on 11 minutes, but his forward pass was aimless, landing at the feet of the impressive Francis Coquelin in the centre circle.

He launched a counter attack which saw Mesut Ozil’s shot from the left saved by Heaton, before Sanchez’s effort from the centre was blocked, but it was third time lucky as Aaron Ramsey fired into the roof of the net.

With a front four of Sanchez, Ozil, Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud, the last thing you can afford to give Arsenal is a gift.

Yet after that Burnley kept that foursome pretty quiet.

Trippier came closest to levelling in the first half, with his 25 yard free kick beaten away by Ospina at full stretch, and at the other end Cazorla bent a set-piece from a similar distance inches wide.

Burnley started the second half much better, and Ashley Barnes hooked a shot on goal from a Trippier corner, but it was comfortable for Arsenal’s Columbian goalkeeper.

The Clarets were always likely to get one good chance to level, and it came 20 minutes from time.

Ben Mee played the ball through the legs of Hector Bellerin to break into the area and his chipped cross found the unmarked George Boyd at the back post, but he fluffed his lines.

A minute later Ospina collected an Ings overhead kick, while in the final minute the striker turned Laurent Koscielny but made a mess of the chance in the area, getting his wires crossed with Vokes.

Burnley need those two to rediscover the chemistry that fired them into this division last season.

The Clarets destiny remains in their own hands. The season starts now.