AT 20 years and 92 days, on Saturday Dwight McNeil became the youngest player in more than five years to reach 10 Premier League assists, after then Liverpool star Raheem Sterling in November 2014, aged 19 years and 335 days.

And the winger capped a memorable afternoon with the final goal in the Clarets’ 3-0 win over AFC Bournemouth.

In the build-up to the visit of Eddie Howe’s men McNeil revealed an in-house assists battle with Ashley Westwood, who had five to McNeil’s four.

And while the youngster is delighted to be level with his team-mate now, he insists the priority is the outcome for the team.

“I’ve got to add another one now. He (Westwood) showed me the stats after the game, which was good,” said McNeil, who was denied by the woodwork before scoring his first since October and second of the season against England Under 21s team-mate Aaron Ramsdale.

“I was unlucky with the first one (earlier effort). I looked at Rammers when it went out of play and we laughed at each other. Luckily I got one in the end.

“I’m happy I got it, it’s been a while coming. The gaffer’s shown his trust in me and it’s nice to get on the ball and help out as much as I can.

“But the main thing is we got the three points so we’re moving up the table nicely.”

Forty points remains the magical marker for Burnley, with McNeil insisting it is a case of safety first for the Clarets. They are just three points shy of their initial target for the season, ahead of the weekend trip to Newcastle United.

But with Sean Dyche’s men on a roll, thanks to four wins from their last five games, having achieved European football for the first time in 51 years in 2018 they are mindful of the possibilities.

“The main thing for us is to stay in the Premier League. That’s the first thing that we want to achieve, then you never know where we could end up at the end of the season,” said McNeil.

“It’s difficult to go on a run like this (in the Premier League) but we just want to keep it going. We’ve got another big and important game at the weekend.

“We want to get to that 40-point mark and then go from there.”

He added: “It shows how far we’ve come over the years, especially over the last 18 months. The team has come a long way and we’ve just got to keep going.”