Scott Parker is aware Burnley's hopes of avoiding relegation from the Premier League are all but over, but he still wants to see the Clarets fight on for the final six games of the season.
A 2-0 defeat by Brighton last weekend left Burnley 12 points adrift of 17th-placed West Ham with only 18 points to play for in 2025-26.
Parker's team could see their immediate return to the Championship confirmed as early as next weekend, though they could still have a say in who joins them in the second tier.
That is because they visit fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest on Sunday, and Parker will accept nothing less than maximum effort from his team.
"I didn't see a team I can be critical of in terms of work-rate and endeavour. It was a team that was fully committed," Parker said, reflecting on the defeat to Brighton.
"The reality is that the chances are slim. The games are running out, but we need to keep fighting between now and the end of the season.
"The biggest challenge for us now is what we're going to be for the remaining six games, so we'll endeavour to stay on this path, keep learning, keep trying to improve and keep fighting away."
Parker also said the pedigree of some of the teams fighting against relegation this term – including Forest, West Ham and Tottenham – made things even more difficult.
He said: "Games are running out and you're fighting with Tottenham, West Ham and Nottingham Forest and it probably shows the level of what is down there.
"Those teams that are down there, you probably never would have suspected would have been down there and those teams, at times, are picking up points and we're not."
Forest are three points clear of the danger zone after drawing 1-1 with Aston Villa in their most recent Premier League game, though a tough run-in awaits Vitor Pereira's side.
The Opta supercomputer assigns them a 9.5% chance of relegation, with Burnley and Wolves both at 100%, Spurs at 50.8% and West Ham at 38%, going into this weekend's fixtures.
But they could also be playing in the Champions League next term, given they will face Aston Villa in an all-English Europa League semi-final tie.
That is after Morgan Gibbs-White's deflected strike handed them a 1-0 home win over Porto on Thursday, sealing a 2-1 aggregate success in the quarter-finals.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Nottingham Forest – Neco Williams
Williams scored for Forest in their draw with Aston Villa last time out in the league, and he has also been a creative force from full-back all season.
Only Callum Hudson-Odoi and Gibbs-White (both 44) have created more chances for Forest than Williams this term, and all but four of his 32 have been from open play.
Burnley – James Ward-Prowse
Since he made his Burnley debut on February 11, no player has created more chances from set-plays in the Premier League than Ward-Prowse (eight).
He has created 1.9 chances from set-pieces per 90 minutes this season overall, the best ratio by any player since Kieran Trippier in 2022-23 (two per 90), among players to play 750+ mins in a campaign.
MATCH PREDICTION – NOTTINGHAM FOREST WIN
Nottingham Forest have won just one of their last eight league games against Burnley (D5 L2), beating them 2-1 at Turf Moor in May 2024.
However, the hosts are huge favourites against their almost-relegated opponents. Forest are unbeaten in their last four Premier League games (W1 D3), their joint-longest unbeaten run of the season.
They last enjoyed a longer unbeaten streak in the Premier League between December 2024 and January 2025 – eight games under Nuno Espirito Santo.
And, across their last two Premier League campaigns in 2023-24 and 2025-26, Burnley have lost 44 out of 70 games (W9 D17).
Despite spending 2024-25 in the Championship, only five teams have lost more top-flight games since August 2023 than the Clarets have.
Burnley have also faced the most shots (533), the most shots on target (181), and the highest expected goals (xG) total (64.0) in the Premier League this season, while also allowing the most touches in their own box (1,051) and facing the most big chances (99).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Nottingham Forest – 62.3%
Burnley – 17.7%
Draw 20%