Mike Jackson has called on the experience in his Burnley squad to help them out of the relegation zone in the final week of the Premier League season. The Clarets head into the final two games of their campaign inside the bottom three but their survival fate remains in their own hands.
Should they draw or win against Aston Villa on Thursday, they will move above Leeds United and will only need to better the Whites’ result at Brentford on Sunday. However, they are missing a handful of key players going into the matches as it is touch and go as to whether James Tarkowski, Ben Mee and James Rodriguez will be fit.
The vital experience lost in those three players is made up elsewhere in the Burnley squad by a group of players used to fighting at the bottom end of the table. The manager might be different but the mentality is the same and Jackson hopes to draw on the knowhow within his squad to stay in the top flight.
“We have found our best performances have come when focusing on what was needed on the game,” he told LancsLive in his pre-Aston Villa press conference. “When I look at that Spurs game I can see that, I think that allows them to move from moment to moment.
“You only have to look at the dressing rooms at half time, as a group they were not heads down. They are talking about that themselves.
“I think we have a group that is calm, if it was a younger group then some of that can creep in. But this group has been in these situations before and have had to go through these spells so there is a bit of calmness that comes with that.”
How Burnley get on in their game-in-hand on Thursday will have a huge bearing on the state of play going into Sunday afternoon. Jackson made it clear that he and his players are fully aware that they are the masters of their own destiny.
“We know if we get a certain amount of points from these last two games it’s in our hands,” he said. “This group works better when we play in the now, mentally we’re in a good place. Everybody in the whole place is trying to do their bit, everyone is all in.
“You can't hide from it [the game-in-hand], everyone knows what it is but we are at our best if we keep our focus on now. That sounds boring but it is about playing the here and now.”
Leeds supporters are sure to be following the action from Villa Park – and Goodison Park – on Thursday with their fingers firmly crossed hoping for victories for Aston Villa and Crystal Palace. Otherwise, they know that even a win at Brentford on Sunday might not be enough to maintain their status as a Premier League club.
