But he admitted that defensive frailties again cost Burnley dear.

The Clarets went down 2-1 to Preston, to further hit their play-off ambitions, but Coyle said: "I don't think we should be leaving with nothing.

"I felt we started the game really well and probably could have been in front, and we ended up finding ourself a goal behind.

"It was a terrific finish from their lad but a poor goal from our point of view.

"The ball's half cleared and should have been dealt with at source.

"With the environment and everything it was a big ask for the lads to come back, but they did, and I thought some of the football in the first half was fantastic and we had numerous opportunities.

"We got our goal and we could have added to it."

He added: "In the second half again, we started really well. But we shot ourselves in the foot with the second goal.

"We're certainly making a habit of gifting goals. If teams earn goals against us I can go with that, but it's a really soft goal and we probably had three or four opportunities to clear it, we've not done that and paid a heavy price.

"If you go and analyse our season you would find that goals are gifted.
"I can accept somebody working really hard and moving you about from side to side - a real footballing goal or when somebody hits a 30-yard volley. That happens.

"But when you've got three or four opportunities to clear the ball in your box and you're not doing it, that tells me something needs to be sorted out."

However, Coyle bemoaned a lack of fortune with Chris Brown's winner for North End, the striker finishing after pinball in Burnley's box: "We've not had the bounce of the ball - especially with the second goal.
There were three or four times where it could have been cleared, and when eventually somebody went to kick the ball as hard as they could, there was a mass of bodies and it's ricocheted perfectly for their lad to tap in from two or three yards.

"Sometimes that bounce of the ball or refereeing decision goes against you. "Certainly the bounce of the ball went against us.

"Having said that we still had enough time to get back in the game, as we showed in the first half. There were a few close-calls but we were certainly not as fluent in the second half as we were in the first."