Scott Parker on the touchline during Burnley's pre-season friendly with Lazio at Turf Moor on Saturday
Scott Parker on the touchline during Burnley's pre-season friendly with Lazio at Turf Moor on Saturday
Scott Parker was focusing on the positives after Burnley completed their pre-season build up with a narrow 1-0 defeat to Lazio at Turf Moor.
The Clarets kick off their Premier League campaign at Spurs on Saturday and Parker was pleased with his side’s performance at the Seria A giants.
Matteo Cancellieri scored the only goal of the game 15 minutes from time but that didn’t tell the full story - with Burnley on top for long spells throughout the match, in particular in a one-sided first half.
“I thought we were really good in the first half,” Parker told the club website. “We had a good patience about us, both in and out of possession.
“With our spells on the ball, we played at a great tempo and were a real threat, creating plenty of chances - and at the other end of the pitch, I thought we limited them to very few opportunities.
“We should have gone in ahead at the break, we were on top in all aspects of the game.
“We just didn’t manage to get our noses in front, and then the back end of the game dropped off in the second half, and we conceded a disappointing goal, but I can’t be too disappointed overall, because there were plenty of positive signs.”
Recent additions Martin Dúbravka, Lesley Ugochukwu and Armando Broja didn’t feature at Turf Moor and Parker explained why.
“We’re still balancing the load of some players, including the new lads,” Parker added.
“There was a game at the training ground (against Manchester City). Lesley got 60 minutes under his belt and some of the other lads got some important game time too.
“We’ve looked at the data of the new players and felt it was probably just a bit too early for Martin and Armando to play, that’s why only Lesley got game time today out of the three of them.”
Burnley have made an immediate return to the top flight following relegation in the 2023/24 campaign and Parker is relishing the trip to the capital to face Spurs - now managed by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank.
“We’re excited. We’ve worked hard in pre-season to be ready for the Premier League starting,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to it - and we know the challenge that awaits.
“There’s a great humility about this group and the way we’ve gone about our work in pre-season, and we feel we’re in a good place.”