Exclusive: The 6ft 7in defender has called for unity and focus ahead of the remaining seven matches of the season for Newcastle United
Dan Burn and Harvey Barnes, with Newcastle and England teammates Tino Livramento, Lewis Hall and Anthony Gordon
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Dan Burn is ready to turn the page after derby devastation against bitter rivals Sunderland and ensure Newcastle United deliver a European place in the Premier League's run-in.
The Geordie defender signed off from England duty last night at Wembley after winning his sixth cap for the Three Lions against Japan, with Thomas Tuchel already understood to have confirmed that Burn will be at the World Cup next summer. That in itself will be an outstanding achievement for the Newcastle star after rising through the lower leagues to play on the biggest stage of all.
But Burn is refusing to think about getting on the plane with his country until he has achieved at least a Europa Conference League spot. Newcastle's season resumes after a three-week break since the 2-1 loss to Sunderland when they travel to Crystal Palace on April 12.
Burn, along with Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento, Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes, all headed back to the North East to rejoin Eddie Howe and the remainder of the squad with the international break now over.
The Blyth battler told Chronicle Live from Wembley: "We need to get our minds back on to the Premier League pretty quickly. We have seven games and I have said it many times before, we are a better team when we have a week between games, and have time to train.
"This is where time will tell, or I'm deemed to be chatting rubbish! But seriously, I am looking forward to getting back around the lads. We want to put in some really good training between now and the end of the season. And I'm still hoping we can get a European place."
Newcastle are still not technically out of the race for the Champions League but must beat the Eagles in their next game and hope some of their rivals slip up. With teams just above Newcastle playing each other in the next round of fixtures, something has to give.
The hope at Benton is that Newcastle are back in the conversation for the top six by the time they take on AFC Bournemouth in their next home game.
Burn said: "It is still very tight in the Premier League. It is the type of league where everyone beats everyone. I'd still back us against anybody when we play well. We will be looking to turn around our form and really attack the end of the season."
When asked if he'd settle for the Europa League or the Conference League, Burn said: "At this stage, I'm not picky. We said at the start of the season we wanted back to back Champions League seasons.
"That is looking pretty slim now. To get back-to-back European seasons would still be good for us. We have full belief in ourselves."
Before the game Newcastle's five stars on duty for England huddled around the Wembley turf and took a moment to savour the international backdrop they'd fought their way into. On the night, four Newcastle stars made an appearance for their country - Barnes missed out - and Burn reflected: "It is huge. It is only a few years ago that you'd never see a Newcastle player in there.
"It was nice. It was comforting to have all the lads around as well. We have some great players coming through and hopefully that will continue for years to come."
"The camp has still been a good experience. There have been a lot of people coming in that the manager wanted to see. It is frustrating to only get a draw against Uruguay and a defeat to Japan. But I think if we put in the performance that we want in the summer then this will be quickly forgotten about."
Despite the defeat against a technically brilliant Japan side, Burn acknowledged England still had big names missing - not least Harry Kane who was rested as a precaution.
When asked if it was better to get a defeat like last night out of the way before the World Cup, Burn said: "Absolutely. The manager brought in a lot of players, and he wanted to see people. We probably didn't have the rhythm that we wanted.
"We were missing some big players and to not have Harry Kane in any team is big. People did well, though, and have put some thoughts into the manager's mind.
"Japan were very, very good, They were really well drilled and technically very good. They were great on the counter and we did not go in behind as much as we should have. I've been impressed with Japan for a long time. They did very well at the last World Cup and I'm sure they will at the next one too."