Burnley defender Charlie Taylor believes the Clarets are reaping the rewards of the ‘clear the air’ talks the squad held after the heavy Boxing Day defeat to Everton.

The 5-1 Turf Moor reverse left Sean Dyche’s side firmly in the Premier League bottom three and prompted staff and players to get together and resolve the problems.

Since then the Clarets have won three games on the spin and head into Saturday’s game with Fulham two points above the bottom three.

And Taylor feels there are signs that Burnley are back to their best.

“I think the Everton game was really the final straw for us,” he said. “We were way below our standards that day and it was a very poor performance and I think things needed to be said and people needed to stand up and be counted.

“Before the West Ham game we had a few meetings, we cleared the air, said what needed to be said, and we’ve looked back to ourselves over the last three games. We look like the Burnley of old and we’re all working hard for each other.

“We weren’t as good as we needed to be in the first half of the season, we knew that, and we knew we needed to change it or we’d be in real danger. That’s helped and we’re moving in the right direction now.”

Asked what was said in the meetings, Taylor said: “People voiced their opinions of where we were going wrong, what we needed to improve on and how we were going to get out of the relegation zone.

“It was about how we were going to get out of it, what needed to be done and thankfully we’ve improved so it’s worked.”

He added: “We’ve got a lot of big characters in the dressing room and they’ve helped.

“We’ve got a lot of players who’ve been there and done a lot in their careers. You need them to pull through and when times are hard people need to stand up and be counted.”

And Taylor, whose side are four points better off than Saturday’s opponents Fulham, said the table now makes for better reading.

But the 26-year-old knows it is important to maintain the momentum built up since the Everton defeat.

“When you’re in the relegation zone it’s not nice to see yourself in the bottom three,” he said. “Now when you look at the league table after a couple of wins it looks a lot better.

“We want to keep striving for more, keep improving and keep climbing the table.

“We want to get as high as we can and as far away from the danger zone as possible.”

The clash with relegation rivals Fulham is being billed as a crunch clash at the bottom of the table and Taylor knows the importance of the encounter.

“It’s another huge game,” said the former Leeds United man. “Just like the West Ham and Huddersfield games. It’s massive because we know that a win for us can lift us seven points clear of them but a loss puts them a point behind us.

“We need to take it one game at a time and get as high up that table as possible.”