Zian Flemming will be desperate to get back among the goals in what has been a promising debut season in the Premier League.
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Referee that showed straight red to Josh Brownhill to officiate Chelsea v Burnle...](https://www.burnleyexpress.net/sport/football/referee-that-showed-straight-red-to-josh-brownhill-to-officiate-chelsea-v-burnley-clash-5600491 "Referee that showed straight red to Josh Brownhill to officiate Chelsea v Burnley clash")
Despite his campaign being disrupted by injuries, the Dutchman is second in Burnley’s scoring charts with six – five of them coming in the league.
The 27-year-old, playing his first football in the top flight, missed the start of the season before being forced out of action at the turn of the New Year too.
But with his five-goal haul in the Premier League coming from just 10 starts, Flemming can be pleased with the impact he’s made on a personal level this season.
But looking at the wider picture, the forward will be disappointed with Burnley’s struggles – which sees them languish in 19th place, nine points adrift of safety and with only 12 games remaining.
Heading into today’s game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Flemming spoke to the club’s YouTube channel about last week’s FA Cup disappointment, his season so far and what the Clarets can achieve in the final few months of the campaign.
Here’s what he had to say:
Flemming is making his Premier League debut this season (Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)placeholder image
Flemming is making his Premier League debut this season (Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)
Mansfield disappointment
“Obviously last weekend was a massive disappointment. But now we need to be professional enough to not let it affect us in a negative way. If it affects us, making sure that it's only extra reason and extra fuel to put a big performance in this weekend.”
Reflecting on first season in the Premier League
“A bit double. I don't know, at the beginning I wasn't playing as much as I wanted to. Then I played and scored a few goals, which I was obviously happy with.
“But an injury always comes at the wrong time. It's never a good time, but yeah, that happened and unfortunately that's part of football.
“Now I'm back, happy that I'm playing again. I just need to find the back of the net very soon to get a few more goals and obviously that's just me personally.
“As a team, I think it's quite obvious that we want to get more points and more wins on the board.”
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Still fighting for survival
“I hope that for the people that are looking at us from the outside, and then especially the fans, the Palace game can be sort of evidence that we are a group that is willing to keep going until the very end, even when the odds must be so far against us, like they were at the Crystal Palace game after 30 minutes or after 40 minutes.
“We will not stop, we will keep going and me personally, I will not stop, I will refuse to stop believing in what we can still achieve.
“However big the gap is, because we have to acknowledge that the gap is massive, but as long as it's possible, I'm going to keep fighting for it, and not just on the game day, but also every day, on the training pitch, on the training ground, and making sure that the whole squad and staff and club, and hopefully the fans as well, that they feel the same way, and that we can also obviously put that into actions and into results.
12 games left
Many times people say these are cup finals or 12 cup finals or whatever, but it's never really true. I've had maybe the feeling already for the past, what is it, five weeks, probably just like the fans, that this game is the must win game kind of thing.
“But sometimes in football, crazy stuff can happen. So no, not every game is a cup final, because if you lose the cup final, you lose the cup. And if we lose a game, we don't necessarily lose the league straight away.
“But it's obviously true that with 12 games left, it is quite a lot of games, but at the same time it's also very few games. Every game that we play is going to be one less towards the end, so every point and every win is going to be extra valuable.”
Chelsea
“I think they've shown that they are a top team in the Premier League this season and in Europe, to be honest.
“So we need to be at our best to be able to get a result there and we have to probably respect them and not respect them at the same time, if that makes any sense. Respect their qualities and respect how good of a team they are.
“But then at the same time, we are going there and I'm going there to win and to beat them.”
Message for fans heading to Stamford Bridge
“The fact that they are coming all the way down to London is already very much appreciated and even though I don't know if they notice that we do appreciate that, obviously we try to show our appreciation by at least giving them a clap when we go out on the pitch or after the game, whether we won, lost or drew, we always try to acknowledge their presence.
“But maybe by saying it, they would feel it even more, especially in a situation like this and in hard times at home and away.
“We could do with some extra support, normally. So if they are going to turn up in good numbers, loud and proud, then it does help us.”
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