Sunderland travel to face Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon
Burnley boss Scott Parker has denied that Saturday’s Premier League clash against Sunderland at Turf Moor represents a “must-win” fixture for his side.
Nevertheless, Parker insists that while his team will be fired up for a clash against a fellow newly promoted opponent, he is not of the opinion that the fixture holds any particular added significance.
What has Burnley boss Scott Parker said about Sunderland ahead of Premier League clash?
Speaking in a press conference on Thursday afternoon, when asked about Sunderland, Parker responded: “Good side, yeah, definitely a good side. Look, it's a totally different team to the one we faced last year. Obviously they’ve recruited and brought in a lot of players, and obviously recruited very well. So yeah, I don't think nothing's changed fundamentally in terms of the team and how they play and the structure of their team. But certainly personnel's changed and they've brought in added quality, which you can obviously clearly see.
“So they're coming off the back of a very good result at home [last weekend’s 3-0 win over West Ham], a good start. But it's our first home game, it's a team that we're familiar with - will be a different personnel this time, but it's a game we're looking forward to.”
When asked if the influx of new signings that Sunderland have made makes it more difficult to prepare for a game against them, Parker added: “Not really, no. It doesn’t make it any more difficult to play. Structure-wise, Sunderland are very similar to what they were. The difference is just the difference in personnel, the quality they’ve brought in. They’ve brought in a lot of players of very good quality - a real mix of experienced players, along with some players who have been around the Premier League and some exciting young players as well. It’s a big game for us, we understand that, and I’m sure Sunderland will be feeling the same way regarding us.”
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The Burnley boss was then asked if he felt Saturday’s game already constitutes a “must-win” clash for his team, to which he replied: “Not really, I get that that's the way football is now and I get that's the way that we all want to deal with that sort of pressure. And I understand it as well, of course, it's a fixture, our first home game, and I think no matter who we were playing, we'd want to go into this game trying to leave a mark and certainly trying to win the game.
“I said it after the game, we're one game in and we've been beaten at Spurs and there were a lot of positives. We go for our second game now, it's the second game this season, and of course it's a big game, I totally understand that. It's a game that we need to keep improving, give the best version of ourselves in, and we'll go into it fully committed to try and get three points, and hopefully we'll come out the better side of that really.”
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