Burnley centre-back Clarke Carlisle has called for him and his fellow defensive colleagues to get their act together.

The Clarets lost 5-0 at White Hart Lane on Saturday and have now conceded 14 goals in four matches away from home without managing to score, contributing to a goal difference of -10 despite being 11th in the Barclays Premier League.

"With Tyrone Mears and Andre Bikey being relatively new to the back four it's very important we do sit down as a defence this week and lay out what we expect of each other in a certain situation," the 29-year-old told the Lancashire Telegraph.

Fortunately Burnley's record at Turf Moor is 100%, with three victories and just one goal conceded but Carlisle is conscious, ahead of the visit of Birmingham, that there is work to be done after consecutive defeats.

"There will be differences of opinion, which is excellent, but [all that matters is] when it comes to a Saturday we're doing the same thing," he added.

"I would rather we all did the wrong thing - whether we're all 10 yards off or all 10 yards up - as long as we did it together. Sometimes there are no answers because there are some spectacularly fantastic players in this league.

"You find the crispness and quality of passing is such that you can't get anywhere near."

The visit of Birmingham signals the start of a period of matches during which Burnley will look to pick up points after facing the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United in their first seven games.

"It's been a tough start, a tough sequence of games, but the whole season's going to be a tough sequence of games," Carlisle added. "When you're not picking up results they become harder games because it's a higher pressure situation.

"We're coming to a run of games now where I think people will be expecting us to be picking our points up, and that just adds to the pressure. It's all about maintaining focus and discipline and the points will come."