KOMPANY DISCUSSES ‘OPPORTUNITY’ AHEAD OF FINAL THREE GAMES

Clarets boss looks ahead to Newcastle clash

Manager Vincent Kompany says there’s an opportunity for his side to ‘remain in the Club’s history’ as Burnley head into the final three games of the 2023/24 campaign.

The Clarets entertain Newcastle United at Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon, where the hosts will be looking to continue the momentum from recent results which has seen Kompany’s side lose just once in the last eight.

Burnley’s impressive recent form has seen the Clarets narrow the gap to just two points from climbing out of the bottom three and in Thursday’s press conference, Kompany highlighted the ‘significance’ of his team grasping the opportunity in the final few weeks of the season.

“It’s so rare in life that you get opportunities to have a significant moment like this, but these guys will have the opportunity in the next three games.

“It’s as big an opportunity as you get. Getting to the wire and having something to play for, that’s one of the most powerful things you can do in this game.

“Every season I feel needs to matter and you can make it matter by doing something special in the next three games. I want every player in the team to believe, individually, they can have a moment.

“There are three 90 minutes to play and every minute offers an opportunity to have a moment to remain in the Club’s history.

“It starts with that belief yourself that this could be your moment. We need that to be spread across the group because we’ve got three games to cover.”

Saturday’s opponents Newcastle sit 7th in the Premier League and are still competing to secure a European place with Eddie Howe’s side just one point off 6th position.

Kompany has high praise for the Magpies & the way they operate, with the Clarets chief expecting a challenging afternoon.

“The problem is they (Newcastle) have not a lot of weaknesses and they have a lot of strengths. But it’s a game at Turf Moor, anything is possible.

“I remember we played them in pre-season before we started the Championship, before we went to Huddersfield, we played against Newcastle and they beat us 7-0 or something.

“If you ask me if I was already aware what the Premier League would be, well in the first pre-season I had in the back of my mind I had that experience. We weren’t ready to play against these teams, but we were perfectly fine to play against Championship teams.

“Newcastle were the first view of what a Premier League team looked like for us. Athleticism, speed, players who are experienced but also tactically versatile, technically capable and have a goal threat in many, many ways, whether it’s set plays, whether it’s press in behind, whether it’s pressing, counter-pressing and that’s been the Premier League for us the whole year.

“Our players have improved though and we can look forward to having another go at the challenge.”