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Hughton: We rode our luck

Birmingham manager Chris Hughton admitted luck was with his side as they overcame Burnley 3-1 to claim a vital victory in the play-off race.

Goals from Marlon King, Jordon Mutch and David Murphy moved Blues three points clear of Blackpool, Brighton and Middlesbrough in fourth - the latter lying outside the top six on goal difference. Danny Ings briefly brought Burnley level, a deserved reward as Eddie Howe's side took the game to the visitors after the interval.

The victory leaves Hughton's side with the tantalising prospect of a six-game shoot-out for the play-off places. He said: "I thought over the 90 minutes we just deserved it. We had to ride our luck a little bit."

He added: "In the first-half I thought we were good but you're up against a team that are playing at home.

"At 1-1, they had a period before that where I suppose some people watching the game would have thought it (the equaliser) was coming, but we showed great character to get that second goal and I think that was very much the turning point of the game."

Birmingham won by the same scoreline at Doncaster on Friday night, (Rode Gold)but Hughton insists their first back-to-back league wins since January will count for little unless they can be used as a springboard into a difficult final stretch.

He added: "At the moment we've picked up two very big results away from home, showed great character and been able to score some goals, but we have to take that on.

"Form at the moment doesn't stand for anything if you don't take it into the next games. We've got to make sure we keep this form going right the way through because they're games that will certainly test us."

Howe was disappointed his Burnley side did not have more to show for a vastly improved second-half showing, saying: "The scoreline doesn't look good, but it was a very good second-half performance.

"I thought when we equalised we were going to go on and win the game. We've said that a few times this season. The momentum was all with us and we've conceded a really poor second goal."
 

[Source:admin] [Author:zqq] [Date:12-04-04] [Hot:]