Fabio Celestini hails Burnley ‘spirit’ after draw with Portsmouth in first game

Burnley head coach Fabio Celestini focused on the positives after being held to a goalless draw by Portsmouth in his first game in charge.

The Swiss replaced Nicky Hayen this week following Burnley’s woeful start to the season, with the club sitting in the relegation zone.

Despite creating 18 shots and Portsmouth failing to muster an effort on target, the points were shared at Turf Moor. The result was greeted by jeers at full-time, but Celestini was pleased with the commitment of his players.

“The first half was good, with the energy, the structure and the offensive actions,” said the Burnley boss, whose first game coincided with his 51st birthday.

“With 48 hours’ preparation, I can be happy with the first half. The second half was a little bit different. But when you have many changes it is not easy to stay stable for 95 minutes.

“If one team must win, it must be Burnley. Today was a good first step.

“I’m very happy with the work in these first two days. The spirit of the guys was incredible. It was not enough for three points, but I am happy with a point and the performance. I don’t see a fragile team. I see a stable team and that is a good step.”

Celestini’s decision to withdraw Marcus Edwards was cheered by the home crowd, and he had a long conversation with the player after his substitution.

“For me, he did a very good game,” said Celestini. “His play between the lines was one of the most dangerous players on the field.

“The feeling was always when he had the ball that something can happen. The problem is in the last [action] he stopped, and we can’t do that.”

Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho admitted his side weren’t at their best, but was pleased to extend the team’s unbeaten run given the circumstances of the game.

He said: “We’ve come to Turf Moor and the context of the week, Burnley not having won here for over a year, a new manager coming and the jubilation around that, the atmosphere at the start… it was almost set up for a resounding home victory.

“So I’m really pleased we’ve dealt with that and come away with a point in a performance where we weren’t really at it in the first half.”

Mousinho was left frustrated when Marlon Pack’s 12th-minute goal was disallowed following a collision between Burnley goalkeeper Gregoire Coudert and Pompey’s Ryan Kavuma-McQueen.

He added: “I couldn’t quite understand why it was disallowed. The goalkeeper comes right over the top of Ryan, punches it and Marlon scores.

“I was really baffled by that. I’ve watched it back and I can’t see how that has been given as a foul. It should have been a goal.”