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"He said that he saw Mick McCarthy behind him and I bet he was laughing in the first half. I wasn't laughing but they didn't play well. Then in the second half he though I would think differently because they came out and played very well in the twenty minutes I watched. They scored one and created another couple of good chances and improved a lot."
Speaking about the Turf Moor support, he added: "They do have great support. They gave the players the bird when things were going astray. There were moans and groans and heckling and a few boos, but as they were going off the crowd were fabulous and that helped turn it around.
"The way they reacted to their players going off at half time gave them a real boost. If I heard that in my ear holes as a player I'd want to play for that lot."
He continued: "It is a huge game for both of us, but the players don't need any motivating, because they are playing well and we all know what is at stake. The prize of staying in the Premiership is what motivates you.
"That's providing it does motivate you and not give you fear, or give you tension or stress. I know people will use the six-pointer cliché and of course it will make a difference if we get beat. But can we still get out? Yes.
"I have learned that in the past when we were written off after playing Birmingham and probably rightfully so the way we played. We were down there and yet two or three weeks later we were 12th through winning three games out of four.
"I have had a look at other teams' fixtures. They're all similar, but mainly the focus and concentration is on Burnley. I can't do anything about the others."
Brian Laws knows what a win will do for the Clarets in terms of the league table. "The one thing we know quite clearly is that if we win the game we go above them and that's the incentive," he said.
"It will take us out of the bottom three, guaranteed. So we know what's at stake and we know what's available to us if we achieve the win.
"Likewise Mick McCarthy will be saying the same thing to his team and they will come here not to get beat. They know if we win we go above them. They have got a pressure on them and we are chasing them and we want to overtake them, that's our incentive.
"We are at home and why shouldn't we feel like that at home? If we show the second half performance we did against Stoke we will be very confident we can go and win it but if we go in with the same habit as the first half we will have a difficult game on our hands.
"The fact is we have got a golden opportunity to go and accelerate. We've got that point under our bets. Can we savour that and improve and get three points on Saturday?
"If we can get three points we will have taken four out of six and then you go above teams and that will put huge pressure on other clubs."
Speaking about the fans, Laws added: "When we give them something to shout about, do they shout, and that's great to see. It gives the players that extra yard and an extra boost and you can see their spirits lifted just by that.
"It shows how crucial the support we have can be between now and the end of the season."
