What an interesting three weeks we've had since we last played at home with that 2-2 draw against West Brom. We knew we had two difficult games to face on the road at Manchester United and Chelsea but I don't think we could ever have expected to outplay United and then go and get a point at Chelsea against all the odds.
But we did just that, and should have been returning home with more than the one point, but one point it is and that's taken us up a place in the table to 18th, above Villa on goal difference but below QPR on goal difference.
It's tight at the bottom but while we've now got a four point lead on bottom club Leicester, those above QPR have moved anything between three and five points ahead of us, the group that is Palace, West Brom, Hull and Sunderland.
The question keeps being asked as to how many points we might need to be safe. It's a difficult one to answer but at this stage last season the bottom three were Sunderland, Cardiff and Fulham who had 24, 22 and 20 points respectively, but by the end of the season the safety figure was 34 so it doesn't look as though it is going to be any higher this time around.
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| Michael Kightly says we're in a pretty good mood |
It's not something to really look at though. For now it is just a matter of looking at things one game at a time and it is something that Sean Dyche has once again said this week in the build up to the Swansea game.
Michael Kightly, with hair these days, has been back in the side for the last two games following the injury to Dean Marney and he's confirmed what we always know, that the players are really positive going into the Swansea game.
He said yesterday: "We're in a pretty good mood at the minute, I think the performance away at Old Trafford was massive. We performed well there and it was very disappointing not to get anything from the game.
"We then built on that at Chelsea by getting a point and we could have nicked it at the end really. The performances have been good and that only breeds confidence.
"I've played at previous clubs where you go away to the likes of United and Chelsea and you don't look at those thinking you can get something from them. Obviously, you go there hoping that you can, but with the squad that we've got and the way we've been performing we feel that we can pick up results anywhere."
He's also very happy to be back in the side, although not so much that it is at the expense of his good mate Marney. "I've been pleased with my last two performances," he added.
"Obviously, I've been a bit frustrated this year not playing as much as I'd like. It's a different league. Sometimes you've got to stay in games so I understand why maybe I've not played as much. It's tough, but we've got a good, small squad and everyone stays together."
Kightly ended by saying: "Hopefully I can build on those two performances and stay in the team from now until the end of the season."
I see no reason why he won't continue tomorrow and I would think there is every likelihood that the team will be the same as started in that fantastic performance at Stamford Bridge.
If so, we'll line up: Tom Heaton, Kieran Trippier, Michael Keane, Jason Shackell, Ben Mee, George Boyd, Scott Arfield, David Jones, Michael Kightly, Danny Ings, Ashley Barnes. Subs from: Matt Gilks, Steven Reid, Michael Duff, Stephen Ward, Ross Wallace, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Sam Vokes, Marvin Sordell.
Dyche did confirm that Matt Taylor is now close to a return, suggesting that he just needs to get some time on the pitch. I think we can expect him to be involved in development squad games very soon.
Swansea were promoted to the Premier League in 2010/11, beating Reading 4-2 in the play-off final, an incredible game that saw Swansea take a 3-0 half time lead but then get pulled back to 3-2 before a late fourth.
Back then the manager was Brendan Rodgers and it was Scott Sinclair, now on loan at Aston Villa from Man City, who netted a hat trick in that final, two of them from the penalty spot.
I have to admit that I expected them to be one season wonders, but here they are playing in a fourth successive Premier League season and having made two managerial changes in that time with Michael Laudrup replacing Liverpool bound Rodgers in the summer of 2012 before losing his job in February last year with former player Garry Monk handed the role.
They've not struggled in any of the last three seasons either having finished 11th in 2011/12, 9th in 2012/13 and then 12th last season. They are currently in 9th place this season but destined to break their points total record; they are now just ten points short of the 47 they won under Rodgers in that first season.
Of those 37 points they've won this season, 12 of them have come away from the Liberty stadium. That's only one more than the 17th best away from home but some way ahead of both us and Leicester who have only seven away points and QPR who have the least with three.
They've won three times on the road and drawn on three other occasions. The wins have come at Man United on the opening day of the season, Hull and Southampton; the draws have been obtained at Sunderland, Everton and QPR.
Their leading goalscorer this season is no longer with them. That's Wilfried Bony who scored nine Premier League goals for them, the last of which being the stoppage time equaliser at QPR, before signing for Man City in the last transfer window.
Ki-Sung-Yeung has five goals, Gylfi Sigurdsson has four whilst both Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge have three each, one of Dyer's being the winner against us at Swansea back in August.
They've had a mixed run of results recently, but the win against United last week was only their second victory in the last eight games.
Swansea usually employ a 4-2-3-1 system but last week used a diamond in their home win against United. One thing we do know, because Garry Monk confirmed it, is that Swansea have stepped up their training this week to ensure they can cope with Burnley's style of play.
Monk has a fully fit squad to select from, with the exception of Kyle Bartley who is expected to be out with a knee injury.
The Swansea team last week was: Lukasz Fabianski, Kyle Naughton, Federico Fernandez, Ashley Williams, Neil Taylor, Jack Cork, Ki Sung-Yeung, Jonjo Shelvey, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Wayne Routledge, Bafe Gomis. Subs: Gerhard Tremmel, Angel Rangel, Jordi Amat, Leon Britton, Marvin Emnes, Nelson Oliveira, Tom Carroll, Jay Fulton, Nathan Dyer.
Last Time They Were Here
April 2011 was the last time Swansea visited Turf Moor at what was a very good time for them and not so good for us. They were fourth in the table and looking just about certain for a play-off place at least; we had just gone on a run that had seen us win one point from six games that had certainly signalled the end of Eddie Howe's honeymoon period and had seen us drop from the edge of the play-off places to a position where we had no more than a remote chance of making them.
I bumped into an old friend outside the ground before the game, a friend by the name of Leighton James, another who has strongly backed Jose Mourinho and attacked Ashley Barnes this week. He told me that we'd no chance and that Swansea would pass us off the pitch.
Howe made one change from the team beaten at Forest four days earlier and it was an enforced one. Marvin Bartley had been sent off by tomorrow's referee Jon Moss and was replaced by Jay Rodriguez who had been missing at Forest with an injury.
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| Chris Eagles was involved in both goals |
James was right, certainly in the first half. In an open game, Swansea were the better side and twice hit the post via a Darren Pratley shot and a header from Scott Sinclair, It was never one way traffic but when we went in at half time with the score 0-0 we were relieved not to be behind.
The second half started in the same way with Fabio Borini missing a first minute chance but just as we looked as though we might be getting some sort of foothold in the game we fell behind although there was some controversy about the goal.
Borini it was who scored it but as he went through there were hands going up for offside, an appeal backed by Burnley fans on both sides of the ground. Borini scored comfortably and television pictures didn't give any real clues although, to be fair, Howe did say he thought it was onside and that the decision was a correct one.
Behind again, and on the run we were having, we needed some good fortune and that's exactly what we got four minutes later ,and just after the disappointing Nathan Delfouneso had been withdrawn.
In a shuffle, Chris Eagles moved onto the left. He received the ball and moved inside the defender before hitting a right foot cross into the box. Swans' defender Ashley Williams was first to it but could do no more than head it into his own goal.
The goal changed the game and we were now the team in the ascendancy. Rodgers made changes but with 13 minutes remaining we won it. Jay Rod tried to get on the end of a Wade Elliott cross but went down under a challenge from Angel Rangel and, despite Swansea protests, it was a penalty which Eagles converted.
Jack Cork might have increased the lead but the game was won and we brought on Graham Alexander for what was his 1,000th appearance in professional football. Amazingly he took a free kick that was curling into the top corner before Dorus de Vries managed to tip it onto the underside of the bar.
But a win it was and the poor run had ended.
The teams were;
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Tyrone Mears, Michael Duff, Andre Bikey, Danny Fox, Jack Cork, Dean Marney, Wade Elliott, Chris Eagles (Graham Alexander 87), Jay Rodriguez (Steven Thompson 90+5), Nathan Delfouneso (Chris Iwelumo 55). Subs not used: Lee Grant, Clarke Carlisle, Shane Duffy, Ross Wallace.
Swansea: Dorus de Vries, Angel Rangel, Neil Taylor, Ashley Williams, Garry Monk, Leon Britton, Mark Gower, Darren Pratley (Luke Moore 68), Scott Sinclair (Tamas Priskin 68), Nathan Dyer (Stephen Dobbie 82), Fabio Borini. Subs not used: Yves Ma-Kalambay, Alan Tate, Andrea Orlandi, Craig Beattie.
Previous Games against Swansea
| Last 20 Years | |||||
| Season | Comp | Ven | Res | Att | Scorers |
| 1995/96 | Division 2 | h | 3-0 | 8,068 | Nogan, Joyce, Eyres |
| a | 4-2 | 2,078 | Eyres, Nogan, Cooke(2) | ||
| 2008/09 | Championship | a | 1-1 | 13,299 | Gudjonsson |
| h | 0-2 | 13,740 | |||
| 2010/11 | Championship | h | 0-1 | 15,135 | |
| h | 2-1 | 13,675 | Williams(og), Eagles(pen) | ||
| 2014/15 | Premier League | a | 0-1 | 20,565 | |
Click HERE to see all previous results against Swansea