Manager Sean Dyche has said he believes there’s good news ahead for Burnley as he previews this weekend’s clash with Swansea City.
Heading to the Liberty Stadium for the game on Saturday, Dyche was meeting with the Official Site and the wider press for his pre game press conference, and he was in a very upbeat mood.
Although Phil Bardsley joins our walking wounded list following the hamstring strain he picked up in last weekend’s fantastic one all draw with Manchester City, as we know left back Stephen Ward has been back in training after missing the last nine league games with a knee problem and with goalkeeper Tom Heaton now back in full training as well, he’s confident that injury issues will subside in the coming weeks and we’ll be in a strong position to end a good season on a high.
With two weeks off following this weekend’s game, Dyche is obviously hopeful of welcoming a few more back, or at the very least, having them two weeks closer to a return.
‘There`s good news behind this weekend. It`s another big challenge this weekend, but behind that we think there will be players in that two-week period to hopefully finish off at the end of their injury periods and get back in the squad. Sometimes you don`t want a break, but on this occasion, because of the injuries, a break is important to us. It allows them more working time and we`ll try get games planned accordingly so they can get a game in, or maybe 75 minutes, for that match or game feel.’
James Tarkowski also misses the trip to Swansea as he continues his recovery from a groin problem and along with Chris Wood who continues his recovery work, them two in particular should benefit from the fortnight off.
‘Tarky is settling down and has had the first three or four days this week when he`s felt a lot better and that`s good news. Woody is getting better and is on the grass every day with the physios. He`s not quite joining with us yet either, but they are getting closer. They are active on the grass every day and when they get to that stage, barring any slip-ups that usually blends back into full training and once they are full in training they start to get considered again. Woody will maybe need a game or something to get going to real fitness, but it`s good to see them back on the mend and back towards recovery.’
Dean Marney is also making reasonably good progress in his own rehabilitation work and Jon Walters and Robbie Brady continue to work back from longer term issues. We have lost Steven Defour for the campaign though as he underwent success knee cartilage surgery the other day.
‘The surgeon and Steven are both really pleased with it, which is hopefully a nice positive mind-set to carry on from the injury.’
With injuries dealt with and arguably the worst he’s had to deal with since coming into the club, Dyche wasn’t going to blame that on our winless run, instead he saw the positives of people stepping up to the plate and the fact our winless run has included games against five of the top six, yet we continue to sit in seventh place and are four points off our total for last campaign.
‘There`s life in a side who give everything, and we give everything. I believe in the group. I`m not crying it in about the injuries. It`s statistically very difficult for sides outside the top six to beat the top six. But every team is good in the Premier League. We`ve got to put in performances. It`s been more challenging lately because of injuries but when everyone is fit and that competitive element is there, then I think we`ve improved on last season.’
Adding.
‘But you have to do the improvement on the league table. That`s where you`re measured, so you want to go above and beyond what we did last season. Beyond that, we`re open-minded. We have been all season and that`s been effective this year. We`ve got 18 points away from home, 18 at home. That proves there has been a more open-minded approach, particularly away from home, because it was difficult for us last season and we`ve quite obviously changed that.’
