Burnley boss makes penalty claim that will interest Sunderland fans in verdict on 'massive' draw

Scott Parker hailed his goalkeeper James Trafford after saving two 'very good penalties' from Sunderland striker Wilson Isidor on Friday night.

The saves maintained Burnley's unbeaten run - though Parker said his side were unlucky with the award of the first spotkick.

"There's not many words that can describe what James has produced there," Parker said.

"I've been involved in some games in my time, but I don't think I've ever been involved in a game like that one.

“The fella who actually took the penalties, they're very good penalties, but Traff has flew across his goal. The work that the guys have done, the coaches, Trafford's diligence, what they've gone through in terms of prepping yesterday and understanding it…I thought everything about him in terms of those big saves, we owe one tonight for Trafford.

“With the first one, I think you could question whether he's offside and then he looks like he's outside the box, so I think that was probably a little bit harsh and maybe justice was served," Parker added.

“The second one, I've not seen because of the camera angle. In real time, it looked like it could have been a penalty. He’s gone to ground in the box, which was probably a poor decision on our behalf. I can see why [it was given].

“The second one, I'm not too sure. But the first one certainly wasn’t a penalty.”

Parker said the point felt like a huge moment in Burnley's season.

“It's a massive point for us, I think, in the scheme of where the game was and the dynamics of the game,” Parker said.

“I think you're coming away thinking it's a huge point for us. The emotions of the game and where the game was at those moments when you concede the second penalty, you're looking down thinking, ‘maybe tonight isn’t meant to be’ but then he saves it again. I think it does feel like a win.

“I think it's fair to say in terms of us and where we sit psychologically at this moment as a group, this is a massive, massive point for us. And I think it may be one we look back on and go, that was an important one.

“I thought in the first half we were very, very good,” Parker added

“I thought we came here with a real intent about us, we took control of the game, showed an impetus about us, had a few decent chances and really looked like the side with a real intent about us.

“Obviously we're playing against a very good side. I think it's fair to say in the second half, the game swings a little bit, it becomes a little bit more end-to-end and for sure Sunderland obviously come at us a little bit and we struggled in certain moments. We need to look at that and review why that is.

“But overall I’m pleased because of the way the game panned out. This could easily, there's no denying, this could easily have been no points tonight. If you said a game of football had two penalties in it, you wouldn’t expect to come away with points. So we’re still unbeaten and we’re looking to keep that going.”.