Having failed to be paid on time for the fourth month out of the last five, Wednesday’s players essentially went on strike and refused to play.
Burnley even offered to fund a Friday night hotel stay to facilitate an early morning kick-off, so that Parker and his staff could watch the fixture before travelling down to Stoke for today’s 3pm kick-off.
But the game fell by the wayside, leaving Burnley with a last-minute scramble to find another opponent – even looking beyond these shores to fly in a side from the continent.
But as it transpired, the Clarets instead opted to host an in-house game at Gawthorpe, which Parker attended.
At Stoke, meanwhile, the Clarets boss named a strong starting XI, but the bench was made up entirely of youngsters.
"It's been well documented, it's been 24 hours of massive change really,” Parker told the Burnley Express.
"We had a game planned today against Sheffield Wednesday which didn't take place and we were going to split the squads.
"I just felt the best way to go was an in-house game with two strong-ish teams at the training ground, which I was at this morning, which went really, really well. We then came here [to Stoke] with a bit more of a flat squad with a lot of young players.
“The positive at the end of today, yes we’re disappointed we lost, but the positives are that the majority of the squad – which is very bloated, like we know – has got a number of minutes under their belt.
"A majority got 90 and that puts us in good stead.”
It’s understood the Clarets are also to play a behind-closed-doors game next Saturday morning before they face Lazio at Turf Moor in the afternoon – again to give as many players as minutes as possible.
Scott Parker split his Burnley squad once again today (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
1. STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND - AUGUST 02: Scott Parker manager of Burnley, during the pre-season friendly match between Stoke City and Burnley at Bet365 Stadium on August 02, 2025, in Stoke on Trent, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
Scott Parker split his Burnley squad once again today (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images) Photo: Nathan Stirk