3 things we clearly learnt about Burnley after their 1-1 draw v Stoke | OneFootball

Burnley‘s lack of cutting edge reared its ugly head on Wednesday night as they were held to a 1-1 draw against Stoke City at Turf Moor.

It was the fourth time in their last five matches that the Clarets had drawn 1-1, and the fourth time that they had been pegged back from a goal up to drop points and the fifth time overall that they had dropped points from a winning position.

Vincent Kompany’s side went a goal to the good just after half-time through right-back Connor Roberts, but with just a few minutes remaining, substitute Harry Clarke headed in a late equaliser.

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Let’s take a look at three things we learnt about the Lancashire side as they faltered late on yet again.

We know from the summer transfer window that Burnley wanted to bolster their strike-force as they failed in pursuits of Jackson Muleka and Swansea City talisman Michael Obafemi.

Kompany has just Jay Rodriguez and Ashley Barnes to choose from, both with lots of Championship experience but especially in Barnes case he doesn’t seem to especially suit the new system brought in by the Belgian.

Rodriguez drops deep on the pitch to link the play up but it’s clear that a different option who can play off the last man is needed, and that could really cost them dearly when it comes to killing teams off – as they’re struggling to do currently.

Defence needs serious work in latter stages of games

As mentioned previously, Burnley have already dropped 10 points from winning positions this season, which is already far too many for a club with automatic promotion aspirations.

Burnley have a serious issue with defending their box late in matches – in the last two games against Stoke and Cardiff they have scored with headers just before stoppage time, and in the match against West Brom last month they conceded even later in the 98th minute.

Kompany hasn’t made many defensive changes in his time in charge so far, and last night he could have brought Charlie Taylor on late in the day to make things safer, but he didn’t choose to do so – maybe he regrets that now.

Tella could do with a rest

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One of the poorer players on Burnley’s side last night was Nathan Tella, who since arriving from Southampton on loan has been pretty impressive, netting four times.

Having started each of the Clarets’ last eight matches though, it could be time to give someone else a try on that left-hand side.

Belgian youngster Anass Zaroury has been coming off the bench consistently recently, and it could be time to give him a go ahead of Tella when they make the trip to Coventry City on Saturday afternoon.