“WE ARE NOT DEAD YET” cried Nick Pope as he smothered his teammates at the final whistle.

He and his Clarets’ teammates had just pulled off a stunning victory against relegation rivals Everton, not only picking up crucial survival points but also marking the first time this season that this Burnley side had won a game of this magnitude.

I think I went through every single emotion possible last night. Burnley started the brighter of the two sides and Everton never really looked like testing Nick Pope.

But against the run of play, they got their noses in front with two penalties. It was at that point that I hit my most frustrated - passes going astray, lack of an effective midfield, bad decisions all over the pitch, an insistence on hoofing a long ball up front and completely bypassing the skillful feet of Weghorst. 

But something happened. Tarky tracked back to make a sensational block to correct a Collins error and the tide turned. Heads went up, passes started going forward, and Matej Vydra came on the pitch.

Tarky, Taylor, Vydra and Jay refused to let the opportunity pass and Everton were buried by two lovely goals. Burnley don’t play entertaining football? Burnley aren’t mentally strong any more? Not on Tarkowski’s watch.

To his immense credit, Dyche got his substitutions spot on last night. It is something that we have been frustrated with for a while. He obviously knows what he is doing more than the we as his fans do, but some of his team selections and substitutions have been known to baffle me.

Westwood over Cork in midfield. Overlooking Vydra. Attacking options on the 85th minute when you are behind in a game. All very subjective, naturally, but when it’s a tough season everything ends up under the microscope. Even the manager.

But Dyche got it right last night just as much as his players did. If I am being really picky, I would have perhaps made the Lowton/Roberts substitution at half time, but if Dyche thought it was good for Roberts to try and turn it around in the second half, then that’s good enough for me.

He took the brilliant Lennon off just as he tired, and introduced fan favourite Vyrdra in the hunt for a winner. The team didn't lose shape or discipline and the substitutions impacted the game. Bravo.

A final word on the absolute hero that is Tarkowski. He was the leader on the pitch last night that we needed. It could have been so easy for the players to concede the result and hope that we could rescue it in the other nine games, but Tarky pulled them out of it.

That block to correct the Collins error was the turning point. It was a brilliant bit of skill, by the way, but it also marked a shift in mental strength.

His teammates reacted. And it was his stubbornness to fend off DCL and send Charlie Taylor on his way that gave us the initiative we needed to draw, then lead.

Norwich up next. The great escape is on…

UTC