Burnley trio Hjalmar Ekdal, Joe Worrall, and Hannes Delcroix all featured for the club’s U21s as they bid to return to first-team action.
Burnley are currently sat 2nd in the Championship as they bid to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Scott Parker has started life at Turf Moor well in terms of results despite some fans voicing concern of his style of play.
burnley, Positive news for Burnley as three first team players set to return
Image courtesy of: ANDREW COULDRIDGE/REUTERS.
The Clarets have been outstanding defensively, only conceding six goals all season. CJ Egan-Riley and Maxime Esteve have formed quite the pairing at the back.
However, they are set to have some more competition. Hjalmar Ekdal, Joe Worrall, and Hannes Delcroix all played for the Burnley U21s side in an 8-1 win over Birmingham City. Scott Parker commented on their imminent return to the first team, telling the Burnley Express:
“It’s a good thing. They’re the demands of the job and the chair that I sit in, and certainly, they’re the headaches that you want as a coach really.
“One; pleased that all of them got some minutes yesterday. That headache is down to me to obviously manage, but it gives us that opportunity to use them players when we need them.”
In other injury-related news, Lyle Foster and Manuel Benson are both also back on grass. Foster has to featured since early October while Benson has just nine minutes of football to his name this season.
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Defence is the best form of attack
As mentioned before, Burnley have been very strong at the back this term. While Egan-Riley and Esteve have got a lot of the plaudits, it has been a real team effort in shielding James Trafford in goal.
burnley keeper james trafford
Image courtesy of: ISABEL INTANTES/REUTERS.
The Clarets have conceded just twice in 11 games, so It is no wonder they are flying high in the league. Across the last five games, they have won four.
Their last defeat came away to Millwall at the start of November, which says a lot about how strong they have been over the past month or so. They’ve bounced back from that tricky result and silenced critics.
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What next for Burnley?
Burnley face a huge test next up as flying Middlesbrough head to Turf Moor on Friday night.
Boro have scored 18 goals in their last five games and seem to have found their form after an inconsistent start to the year. Michael Carrick’s side are now up to 5th in the League.
A win for the Clarets would push them nine points clear of their opponents but a Boro victory would see them close the cap to just three points.
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