The Clarets' relegation from the Premier League was sealed this weekend after a 4-0 home defeat to Liverpool, intensifying speculation that Laws' job could be under threat. The 48-year-old has overseen 14 defeats in 17 matches since succeeding Owen Coyle in January and is set for talks about his future with club chairman Barry Kilby. Although Laws announced after the Liverpool match that he expects to remain at the helm for the forthcoming Championship campaign, Kilby has appeared relatively non-committal on the subject. However, Duff feels Laws has the chairman's support and does not think there should be a change of manager. Asked if he viewed Laws as the man to take Burnley forward, Duff said: "I think so. The chairman has come out and backed the manager after the game. "The players will play for whoever is the manager, but I think a lot has been made of it this year and we have been easy targets. "The gaffer is an easy target because we were on that bad run - it is easy for people to take a pop. "But that is football and I'm sure everybody at the club has experienced it before. "That's what happens, but hopefully we can build next year with the gaffer in charge." West Ham's victory over Wigan a day earlier meant Burnley lined up against Liverpool on Sunday knowing they faced the steepest of uphill battles to survive, and Duff admits the reality of relegation had already been sinking in amongst the players for some time. "The mood has been a little bit sombre with the realisation that we are ultimately going down and it's disappointing, but I don't think it was (this weekend) really (that it started)," Duff said. "The last few weeks, we have realised that without getting results, it was getting harder and harder. "With West Ham winning on Saturday and us having to win the last three games, it was going to be a major ask, especially with the quality of the opposition we were playing against. "So it was disappointing, but it had probably sunk in just a little bit before that."
