Newcastle United head coach Steve Bruce says he has demanded his players do not slip back into the comfort zone after their performance against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Toon chief says his players have been told all week that the standards set against Spurs must be on show at Turf Moor for the Sunday high noon showdown in Lancashire.
Despite picking up a point against Spurs, and drawing four of the last five matches, Newcastle's last win was back on February 6 against Southampton at St James' Park.
Bruce was asked about the showing against Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break, on a night when a decent battling performance against Aston Villa wasn't built on, and said: "The problem we all face in the bottom half of the division is inconsistency.
"Yes every team has good players and every team is capable of producing a performance.
"Our problem is exactly that.
"We can't play as well as we did against Tottenham and not back it up at Burnley.
"There's the challenge for us, we must maintain those standards.
"And if we do that, we have played as well as we can do, and there's nothing more you can say.
"We need to find another performance like Spurs, and that has been the message all week - let's do the same again please."
United look like a side that are limping towards safety but failure to pick anything up at Burnley means they are still to break past the 30-point barrier in the top-flight.
Bruce reflected: "Over the past 10 games we've taken about 10 points which is not mouth-watering.
"Far from it.
"However, usually it is enough (in terms of a points ratio to stay up).
"Yes, we've been up against it.
"As I keep saying, we're not alone.
"You see the teams around us we've all won six or seven games which is why we are in the position we're in.
"It's quite simple and it's very, very difficult."
