SEAN Dyche was happy with a clean sheet and a point away from home in the Premier League at Sunderland.

But the Clarets chief felt his side could have gone on to win at the Stadium of Light had they taken one of their golden first-half chances.

Burnley were comfortably the better side for 45 minutes in the north east but George Boyd and Ashley Barnes both missed from inside the six-yard box as the Clarets failed to turn their control into goals.

"I was pleased with the first half, without being dominant, we had control of the game, I felt," said Dyche.

"We created two really golden chances, and, I haven't seen it back, but possibly a shout for a penalty for what looked a loose arm when Boyd struck one...I was a long way away to be fair.

"We kept them to very little first half."

The Black Cats responded with chances of their own in the second half as Burnley had to settle for a third away point of the season.

But the Stadium of Light crowd had been fristrated in the first half and Dyche felt a Burnley goal when the Clarets were on top would have changed the feel of the game .

"Second half, they've got to have a go obviously, the feel around the ground was a must-win," he said. "They created two great chances, then we go up the other end and have a great chance.

"But in the first half, the psychology and feel in the stadium would have changed drastically if we'd have nicked that goal we deserved."

Having controlled the first half Heaton had been forced into saves by Fabio Borini and Adnan Januzaj within five minutes of the restart.

Dyche was pleased with the resilience of his side after the break and felt a draw was about right.

"We started the second half a bit slow, they started a bit better than us, went 4-2-4 getting the ball forward, as you would, and they got a couple of situations, one from a penalty shout at the other end," the Clarets chief said.

"Overall, it's probably about right, both teams had chances, but we had chances early to change the feel in the stadium, which was probably my only question mark.

"The mentality was good, they were throwing stuff at us at the end, and we keep a clean sheet and come away with a point."

The goalless draw matched the result at the Stadium of Light in the FA Cup third round back in January and it was only Burnley's second Premier League clean sheet on the road this season, after the goalless draw at Old Trafford back in October.

"Despite our run, if you speak to managers in the Premier League, which I do of course, they generally say if you get a clean sheet and a point away in the Premier League, it's a valuable one," said Dyche.