Saturday 18 February 2017 18:57, UK
Burnley manager Sean Dyche offered "no excuses" as his side fell victim to what he described as the "madness of football" following non-league Lincoln City's 1-0 win in the FA Cup fifth round at Turf Moor on Saturday.
The visitors became the first non-league team since Queens Park Rangers in 1914 to progress to the quarter-finals of the cup thanks to Sean Raggett's 89th-minute header.
However, despite fielding a strong-looking XI, the Clarets barely created any real openings during the tie, with Dyche praising his opponents' display after the full-time whistle.
"I think they had once chance and that was the goal, so I am not too critical about the shape and the defensive side of the team," he said.
"The technical detail in the team - and we have created enough to score a goal, and we did not do that - we have not kept the ball that well. The pitch is a bit tricky at the minute, we know that, unfortunately because of the weather up here.
"But no excuses, they approached it in the way cup sides should when you are the lower-ranked team. You know you are underdogs for a start, so you have that kind of feeling like: 'What is the worst that can happen?'
"You try and work with organisation, rather than flair. You play direct and simple football so that all the players understand it and do not overthink it. And I thought they did that very, very well today and that was their game plan and I thought they carried it out well.
"All credit to them, let's make that clear, you have to find a way to win. No matter how football comes around, I am a great believer in finding a way to win. Whatever style you need, you have to find a way. And they found a way to win."
The Burnley boss said he was most disappointed by the way his players reacted to the all-too-rare situation of being favourites in a match.
"This is the first time in a long, long time we have been favourites, big favourites, the first time in a long, long time and that is part of our growth, a different mind set that," said Dyche.
"Often, virtually every week, but not literally, we are underdogs, so it is a different mindset and I did not think we dealt with that as well when the whistle went."
Dyche did point to the fact that had striker Andre Gray taken an early opening against the Imps, the outcome of the contest could have been very different.
"The madness of football is that if we take our chance early, then it changes everything," he said. "But we did not and I believe in one of my mad laws of football, and that is the law of one more chance, and they had one and they took it.
"That is the marvel of the cup and unfortunately we have been on the wrong side of it today. I have had my good times in this competition, just not today. The fairy tale continues, it is just one of those things, and I wish them well beyond today, that is the way it goes.
"We have unfortunately played part of their fairy tale, which is unfortunate for us in the sense that we did not want to do that, quite obviously.
"But no excuse, at the end of the day I've been in a side, I've been in a team, that had to find a way to win a game in this competition, and we did that back in the day. They found a way to get a result and that is what football is all about."
