Burnley will lose games this season and they will be tested to the extreme – but they will never give anything less than 100 per cent.
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That’s according to Clarets boss Scott Parker, who is gearing up for his side’s season opener away to Tottenham this weekend.
After storming to automatic promotion from the Championship with 100 points in his first season in charge, the real challenges lies ahead for Parker: doing the seemingly impossible and keeping Burnley in the Premier League.
Last time out in the top flight, the Clarets accumulated a measly 24 points under Vincent Kompany, who largely tried to stick to one way of playing.
Under Parker, however, Burnley are expected to be much more adaptable.
“You will see a committed team,” he told Sky Sports. “Whether there's a style or a philosophy, a certain way you need to play, you're going to see a group of men that are fundamentally committed through good and through bad.
“That was a mantra for us last season. While of course we only lost two games and at times we weren’t probably exposed to the adversity that football can bring, this was a committed squad, a squad with unbelievable cohesion, real quality in certain moments and I think that gave us an unbelievable grounding for us to do what we did.
Parker's side begin their season away to Tottenham next weekend (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)placeholder image
Parker's side begin their season away to Tottenham next weekend (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
“We need to maintain that for sure. That needs to be an ultimate underpin for us and it will be.
“Regarding the way we play or our style or how we go about things, of course there's different ways on how to win football matches.
“We're a team coming up from the Championship where there's a next challenge for us and it's a big one that we understand, but it's one we're going to be fully committed to, to try and be successful in.”
When asked what specific skills Burnley will need in the Premier League, Parker added: “First and foremost, we want to try and stay in this league.
“I took a meeting with the team early on in pre-season and talked about the word resilience and how we're going to have to be resilient this year. We're going to face different challenges this year to what we faced last year.
“We’ll need to have a personality, a mindset, a mentality in what we are and what we stand for. If anyone was to watch this team last year, I think it would come shining out.
“Whether that was the culture, the environment, the players’ togetherness, the brotherhood…I know only too well how important that was and it's going to be fundamental this year, for sure.
“Of course we're all going to be tested. As a coach, I’m going to be tested on a tactical element. The players are going to be tested tactically and technically in this tough, tough league.
“But fundamentally, we need a core and a backbone that we always fall back on.”
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