‘Devastated’ Sander Berge reflects on the 'hurt' of Burnley’s relegation following Tottenham defeat

The Clarets knew they had to beat Tottenham in their penultimate fixture of the season on Saturday to stand any chance of keeping their already slim survival hopes alive.

Despite having some brief hope courtesy of Jacob Bruun Larsen’s opener, Spurs fought back not once, but twice to win 2-1, meaning Kompany’s men can no longer get out of the bottom three.

Having performed so valiantly against Spurs, Berge was understandably crestfallen come the final whistle.

“I’m devastated, as are the whole group,” he told Clarets+.

“We came out, we believed - as we have done throughout the whole season - and played really well I would say. Played with heart, played with character, just as we have done throughout the whole season.

“Especially in the last few games, we’ve fought back and shown we are a Premier League team. Everyone has to respect us.

“Coming out, getting the 1-0 and still playing well, pushing, playing smart, managing the game well. In the end it felt like it was there for us to take it, which hurts obviously.”

While Burnley were on the back foot for much of the second-half, while the game remained 1-1 they still knew they were in with a chance of stealing the win the later it went on.

The idea was to hit Spurs on the counter but the ball simply kept coming back at the visitors, who struggled to keep the home side at bay.

A draw wouldn’t have been good enough for the Clarets, meaning they had to throw caution to the wind - resulting in Tottenham sealing the win late on courtesy of Micky van de Ven.

“It was tough to take,” Berge said.

“By that point they were going for it. We defended a little bit more, they’re a very strong side, they managed the ball well. But we knew if we could keep it tight at the back we would get that chance on the break, but unfortunately they scored.

“We fought until the last minute but unfortunately it wasn’t enough, so it’s a devastating feeling. But the fans were brilliant again and I think they could see we left it all out there.”