Maybe Wayne Thomas sneezed on him

Last updated : 29 April 2007 By Tony Scholes
Roy Keane saw his side go in front, but come from behind to win it which enabled them to go top again albeit for just a few hours. "The Carlos Edwards goal was fitting to win any game," he said. "That performance summed up our season. We gave away one or two soft goals but the players showed great character, determination and desire. I'm very luck with the players I have got."

In January he replaced Steven Caldwell as captain, giving the arm band to Dean Whitehead, and the manager singled out his performance. "It was a captain's performance by Whitehead, and that's why he's skipper. He tackles, he's brave, he's honest and he trains well. He was different class tonight. He does a lot of stuff that maybe goes unnoticed, but not from me."

All they have to do to ensure going up now is to win at already relegated Luton next week. "It keeps it in our hands. A draw or loss tonight would have put Birmingham and Derby back in the driving seat. We will be ready for Luton next weekend."

As for the game itself, Keane said: "I'm sure the fans enjoyed tonight. Great credit to Burnley, they came and had a go. Teams have come here and tried to shut up shop, but Burnley came and had a right go."

"The players have got to enjoy playing for us. Forty-five thousand here tonight, you have to count your blessings. There was tension, there was everything in the game, but did I enjoy it? No."

Steve Cotterill knew his Burnley side had played a massive part in a fantastic game of football but he was obviously disappointed to come away without a point. "I remember it being a cracking game when we beat Preston 3-2, but when you lost 3-2 I don't know whether you see it that way," he said.

"We came here and we wanted to give it a right go. We did that apart from the first fifteen minutes when I thought they were out of the traps very quick knowing that they probably had to get the three points. I thought we played our part though. There were a few individuals who could have done better tonight and if they had done better we would not have conceded three goals."

Steve was asked about the three penalty decision. "I think the referee wanted to give a penalty tonight," and when pressed he jokingly continued with the same answer. Everyone in the stadium could see that he was getting his decisions wrong.

Eventually he said: "From what I can gather they are soft penalties and maybe their second was the only one that might have been. I don't know what he gave the first one for, maybe Wayne Thomas sneezed on him, and I don't know if ours was either if I'm being honest."

Speaking about our second goal he added: "When Wade Elliott scored, I was thinking that would be difficult to better, but Carlos Edwards has come up with a peach and because it is the winner, Wade's will get knocked back a bit.

"Football is a cruel world and we are not taking anything with us tonight. We've just to make sure now that we finish on a high and get three points from the last game of the season next week."