AS David Jones and his Burnley teammates trudged off the Turf Moor pitch on Saturday after their opening day defeat to Swansea they could be forgiven for thinking ‘here we go again’.

On Thursday Jones had spoken eloquently and passionately about the Clarets’ top flight campaign of two years ago, and how it was no longer enough to play well without reward.

‘It starts to wear thin’, Jones had said about the feeling of coming off the pitch after a good performance, with no points to show for it.

They were positive words, and they were right, but they made no difference on Saturday.

The Swans were indebted to Lukasz Fabianski for some excellent saves, particularly in the second half, while the Clarets were rightly aggrieved by Jon Moss’s decision not to award a penalty for a clear pull on Michael Keane when he looked certain to score.

Although the result went against them, Burnley can take plenty of positives from this opening day display.

Steven Defour is set to add some quality to the midfield with his arrival this week, but if Jones and Dean Marney felt they had a point to prove they did just that. The former’s set-pieces were a threat, while the latter was a flurry of constant energy.

But for as well as Burnley played in the second half they had started the game in nervy fashion. Swansea speedster Mo Barrow was a threat down the right, giving Stephen Ward a tough time and setting Fernando Llorente up for a header which was straight at Tom Heaton.

He then switched to the left and went round the outside Matt Lowton, sending in a deep cross for Wayne Routledge who put a volley back across goal and wide.

Andre Gray will be a crucial figure for Burnley in front of goal this season and he had the clearest sights of goal in the first half.

A George Boyd flick sent the striker round the back of Jordi Amat, but he slashed a volley high. 

But his best chance came on a counter-attack he initiated, picking the ball up on the edge of his own area from a Swansea corner. He exchanged passes with Marney as the Clarets surged downfield and skipped past Federico Fernandez on the edge of the area before forcing a smart save from Fabianski with a shot across goal.

Burnley started the second on the front foot. Marney sent a looping header from 15 yards just over before the game’s controversial moment arrived.

Jones’ corner evaded a flapping Fabianski and Keane looked certain to add the finishing touch, only to fail make significant contact as Leroy Fer hauled him back.

Turf Moor was alive now and Fabianski atoned for that area with a smart one-handed save from Sam Vokes’ low 18-yard effort.

The visitors should have taken the lead just after the hour mark, but Fernandez put his effort from four yards over when it was easier to score.

But Fer made no mistake when he was presented with a tap-in of his own. Jefferson Montero’s cross was glanced goalwards by Llorente, and although Heaton produced a wonderful one-handed save, Fer reacted quickest to score.

Still Burnley refused to wilt. Gray poked a close-range effort wide of the near post before Fabianski pulled off another one-handed stop in injury time.

Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s free-kick had hit the wall, but Marney fizzed the ball back towards goal and a deflection off the wall looked to have sent the ball over the Pole, only for him to throw a hand upwards and palm the ball away.