SEAN Dyche praised his sides “magnificent achievement” as the Clarets hit that all important 40-point mark with a fantastic point at Chelsea.

Jeff Hendrick gave Dyche's side the lead and then Chelsea scored two quickfire goals to take the lead, before Ashley Barnes got his seventh goal in 12 games to draw his side level with the Champions League hopefuls.

The Clarets dug deep in the second half to repel any Chelsea attack to all but secure their top flight status for a fourth consecutive season.

“I am delighted with the performance tonight. They (Chelsea) were excellent in the first 30 minutes of the game and we had to fight, work and do all the diligent stuff as a group and eventually, that got us a point," said Dyche.

“That’s 40 points now and that’s a strong marker. I like things to be factually done, but we are certainly in a very strong position, especially after having 12 points from 19 games at Christmas.

“It’s nice to be in this position now and the players have been tremendous. To come through that period as mentally strong as they have is a really tough thing to do.

“They have been magnificent and tonight was all about resilience. We’ve all seen the technical prowess teams like Chelsea have and we had to do all the basics well.

“There’s an honesty to how we work, but also that’s the record number of goals we’ve scored in the Premier League now!”

All four goals in the game came in a crazy opening 16 minutes, Chelsea had chances in the first half, but Burnley limited them in the second period.

Dyche, who went straight over to celebrate reaching 40-points with the travelling Burnley fans on the full time whistle, said: “There was a lot of noise about at the start of this season and some describe it as a bad season, but I think it’s been a fantastic season.

“To come through that beginning and where we are now, with all the challenges along the way, is a magnificent achievement.

“People will look at how we got the result tonight, but we have no choice. They might say you are not doing this or that, but equally we are not spending fortunes.

“We are trying to develop a side with one of the lowest wage bills in the Premier League. We have to find a way to win games and pick up points and sometimes we play really good football, as we did recently against Bournemouth and West Ham.

“Other times we have to dig in and do as we did tonight, and that is a magnificent point, make no mistake.

“When you are on 39 points and you go and get that next point at Chelsea, that is a magnificent achievement.”

“I’ve been around the game to have seen a lot worse. But I was more bothered about clapping our fans because they have travelled a long way down here on a Bank Holiday and the lads have given them something to shout about.”