Lancashire

Burnley manager Scott Parker, speaking to BBC Sport after his side's defeat by Brighton: "Frustrating. Probably from the result really, I don't think there was much in the game. We concede the goal at the wrong time in the first half. The fine, fine margins of the game obviously with the two goals disallowed, which are of the finest, of finest of margins. It was an even game really but the clinical moments we had we didn't manage to execute. There's some familiarity of the year in terms of that."

On Burnley's two disallowed goals: "I think that's how you see football really now. There's a perfection to the game. People will always fall back and reference well it's the correct decision. If that's what it is, that's what it is. I get we're in a world where everyone wants perfection in every walk of life, and football is certainly turning out that way. But from my side when I look back on it, from a still, it doesn't actually look like offside.

"Now, of course, I get that you can reference that obviously it was from the angle. But that's ultimately the way it is. We're ultimately falling back on technology, or AI, or some gadget that will prove a human being wrong in that sense. That's the way it is. That's disapointing. It's by the finest of finest of knee caps. That's the way it's going.

"I see a team fully committed. We can be critical of this team in certain moments on the lack of quality or lack of clinical moments. But I didn't see a team you can be critical of in terms of effort. "

Did you know?

• Burnley have failed to score in 12 Premier League games this season, with only Wolves (16) and Nottingham Forest (14) failing to score in more this term.

Image source, Getty Images

Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom spoke to BBC Radio Lancashire after their away win over Charlton Athletic.

"I'm really pleased It was hard earned and we had to show everything," he said. "The game started really fast and it was to and fro until they scored when I thought we got a lot more control of the game.

"We scored a good goal, made some really good opportunities and we came out in the second half and were the same again

"But whenever you don't get that two-goal margin you know you will have to defend,

"Charlton are at their most dangerous when they are direct so it made for a nervy finish and we had to defend the box.

"There were some really good challenges, headers and blocks we expected it and knew we had to do it. We stood up and were really good value."Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"I'm really pleased. It was hard earned and we had to show everything. The game started really fast and it was to and fro until they scored, when I thought we got a lot more control of the game.

"We scored a good goal, made some really good opportunities and we came out in the second half and were the same again

"But whenever you don't get that two-goal margin you know you will have to defend.

"Charlton are at their most dangerous when they are direct so it made for a nervy finish and we had to defend the box.

"There were some really good challenges, headers and blocks. We expected it and knew we had to do it. We stood up and were really good value."

Adwaidh Rajan
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Burnley supporters did not hide their frustration at the final whistle as their club fell to a 2-0 defeat by Brighton at Turf Moor - a fourth loss in five matches.

But their players showed plenty of spirit and made things extremely difficult for the Seagulls before being ultimately beaten by a clinical display from their opponents.

They had the ball in the net in both halves as Jaidon Anthony and Bashir Humphreys thought they had scored, but lengthy video assistant referee (VAR) reviews were needed to chalk off both strikes by narrow margins.

Dutch striker Zian Flemming, who has been one of the rare bright sparks in an otherwise disappointing campaign for Burnley, was denied an equaliser by a good save from Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen with his legs.

In total, the Clarets attempted 10 shots, with five on target - compared to Brighton's six on target from 13 attempts.

Now with only one win in their last 23 league matches and 12 points from safety after West Ham's 4-0 win against bottom club Wolves on Friday, the Clarets face a daunting challenge to avoid an immediate return to the second tier.

The only hope of a miraculous escape is the fact they play three sides in the bottom six - Nottingham Forest, Leeds and Wolves - in the run-in.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Burnley's performance

What did you make of Brighton's display?

Come back on Sunday for a selection of your replies

Image source, BBC Sport

Burnley boss Scott Parkers makes four changes from a 3-1 defeat by Burnley before the international break.

Lesley Ugochukwu, Marcus Edwards, Hjalmar Ekdal and Florentino Luis all start ahead of Hannibal Mejbri, Kyle Walker, Lyle Foster and suspended Josh Laurent.

Burnley XI: Dubravka, Hartman, Esteve, Ugochukwu, Edwards, Anthony, Humphreys, Florentino, Ekdal, Flemming, Ward-Prowse

Subs: Weiss, Walker, Worrall, Larsen, Foster, Tchaouna, Pires, Broja, Tresor

Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler, who will watch this game from the stands, has made two changes from the 2-1 win against Liverpool on 21 March.

Lewis Dunk is suspended, so Olivier Boscagli takes his place in the defence while Yasin Ayari comes in for James Milner.

Brighton XI: Verbruggen, Van Hecke, Minteh, Hinshelwood, Welbeck, Boscagli, Kadioglu, Gomez, Ayari, Wieffer, Gross

Subs: Steele, Julio, March, Rutter, Baleba, Kostoulas, Mitoma, De Cuyper, Veltman

Image source, BBC Sport

Brighton are another team who had hit a bit of form when the season paused.

After going through a sticky patch under Fabian Hurzeler, they have won four of their past five games - and I can see them winning this one too.

Burnley are always competitive, and you can see them digging in again at home, but that approach has not translated into many positive results.

As I've said for a while now, they are going down. It is more about what happens next season and whether they stick with manager Scott Parker to try to get them back up. Their fans don't appear to be convinced by him.

Sutton's prediction: 0-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

There are four games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Arsenal v Bournemouth (12:30)

• Brentford v Everton (15:00) - Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Burnley v Brighton (15:00) - Listen on Sports Extra 2

• Liverpool v Fulham (17:30) - Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times BST

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Brentford v Everton" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Liverpool v Fulham".

Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds

Matt Jones
BBC Sport journalist

Brighton can give their European chances a major boost on Saturday, as they face Burnley at Turf Moor (15:00 BST) in the Premier League.

The Seagulls have bounced back well in recent weeks after a tough start to the calendar year. Any slender concerns around relegation have been banished by a run of four wins in five games, including an impressive 2-1 win against Liverpool last time out. They go into the weekend in 10th, just three points off the top seven.

As for Burnley, they are 10 points from safety with seven matches to play. It would take a remarkable turnaround in form for Scott Parker's side to pull themselves back into contention to stay up.

Burnley battling the inevitable

After a run of three draws and a win in all competitions in January, there was a small sense of Burnley building momentum. But their subsequent failure to kick on means relegation is almost certain at this stage.

Parker has been unable to find a formula that works at either end of the pitch this season. Up top, they have occasionally clicked into gear - albeit they have had the fewest shots (excluding blocked efforts) in the Premier League this season - but at the back they've consistently leaked goals.

Their total of 61 goals conceded is the highest of any team going into the weekend fixtures and in terms of style, Brighton do not appear to be an ideal match up.

The Seagulls rank first for high turnovers and only Tottenham Hotspur have faced more high turnovers than Burnley this season.

Still, in the past this fixture has been tight. Seven of the 13 Premier League meetings between Burnley and Brighton have been drawn, with both sides winning three. But at this stage, it feels like only wins will do for the Clarets.

Brighton bounce back

Losses to Crystal Palace and Aston Villa in February felt like they could have been the beginning of the end for Fabian Hurzeler at Brighton, with supporters unhappy and the team toiling. But they have recovered superbly.

A 2-0 win at Brentford sparked a major turnaround in fortunes, and such is the congested nature of the table that the Seagulls are suddenly well in the mix for a European place.

The team have definitely tightened up in that time and have relied on the scoring exploits of Danny Welbeck to give them an edge. His brace against Liverpool took him to 12 goals for the season, one behind Glenn Murray's Premier League record for Brighton of 13.

Welbeck is also enjoying one of the most prolific seasons for a player of his age in Premier League history.

Brighton have also relied on a veteran in midfield. James Milner started his first game of the calendar year in the narrow loss to Villa and has been in the XI for all four of the wins across the past five games; he missed the only defeat in that run, against Arsenal.

While there has naturally been a lot of focus on Milner recently breaking the Premier League appearance record, he can still have an impact on games too and can still mix it physically as a 40-year-old.

In the first three of those starts he covered 11.63 km against Brentford, 11.4 km against Nottingham Forest and 11.94 km against Sunderland, the fourth, third and second highest in each fixture respectively.

Image source, Getty Images

The EFL has announced the fixtures for the 2026-27 season will be published at midday on Thursday, 25 June.

The first-round draws for the Carabao Cup and the Vertu Trophy will be made on the same day.

The new season will kick off on the weekend of August 7-9 with the first round of the Carabao Cup, and the opening fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two will follow a week later on 14-16 August.

The first round of the Vertu Trophy will be played in the week commencing 21 September.

Social media has made the abuse of footballers "the norm", according to Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom.

Lancashire Police are investigating after Preston's Thierry Small was racially abused in an Instagram post following the own goal he scored in Monday's 1-1 draw with QPR in the Championship.

"Any sort of abuse is something I really don't like, but people are big and brave on social media," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"We know the police are involved and it's someone not connected to us, who lives out of the country and is known to have done it before, targeting players at other clubs so it looks like he's a professional idiot rather than just a one-off idiot."

Preston released a statement , externalcondemning the abuse aimed at Small but Heckingbottom said the problem is a difficult one to deal with.

"Social media plays a part in it because it becomes a norm - you see some of the stuff that's written on there is evil, so to cross that line to become racist, it's smaller because people are doing it all the time and it's just promoting it.

"It's a safe haven and nothing happens, we'll never see this guy, he won't do it to our faces.

"If it's someone at the stadium the police can deal with it, but to hide behind an online profile, it's just something we have to make sure Thierry knows we've got his back and the fans will show their love for him at the next game."

Preston are currently 14th in the Championship table and visit Charlton Athletic on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Listen to more Preston content and interviews on BBC Sounds.