Sam Vokes was ‘very close’ to being fit to feature against Cardiff on Saturday but in the end Burnley boss Sean Dyche saw ‘the bigger picture’, which makes sense, and decided he wasn’t prepared to take the risk on him for the game at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Which, I think we’ll all agree, was the right call!
Dyche is ready for the Welsh international to return in Saturday’s Lancashire derby with rivals Preston though, speaking to the Burnley Express he said.
‘Vokesy was very close.
‘We had to make a joint decision with him to attempt to make sure he’s fit for the longer term, and not the immediacy of this game. It was a close one last week, he still wasn’t quite right, but very close.’
Ashley Barnes and Lukas Jutkiewicz aren’t going to be options for the Clarets boss in some time, it’ll be a surprise if either actually play much, if any, part for what’s left of the season? But you never know!
In their continued absence, the loss of Vokes was another blow, but with Andre Gray in such fine form that’s certainly helped compensate! With Dyche going onto praise the contributions of Rouwen Hennings and Chris Long.
‘Longy is a young lad, he’s learning, he worked very hard, he’s adapting and learning. Rouwen is more rounded, but adapting to the different football culture.
‘Vokesy knows the script and is a fine player, Andre was quiet but is still a threat – the Cardiff lads will have been worried, ‘will he get in behind us?’
‘That’s the challenge you want as a manager, to have good players who are all operating at a good level.’
In another interview, this time on the Official Website, Dyche gave some more post-Cardiff thoughts.
He was ‘delighted with the mentality of the players’ following the fightback from two-down at Cardiff with five-minutes to play to earn a two-two draw.
Now unbeaten in nine-matches, and despite ‘only’ getting a point it’ll feel like a win, he added.
‘Every Burnley fan probably feels as though that was a win. Cardiff is a tough place to go and people forget they’ve beaten Middlesbrough and Reading there. They are a good side and they keep clean sheets.
‘We didn’t think it was going to be a walk in the park and, make no mistake, we had decisions go against us but we came out with a valid point and a strong finish.’
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