Mike Jackson has fired a warning to relegation rivals Everton by insisting that his Burnley players have come together in an all out assault on staying in the Premier League.
The Clarets sit in the drop zone, just a point behind Frank Lampard's side - who have a game in hand on their Lancashire rivals - but under the stewardship of interim boss Jackson, Burnley have earned four points out of their last six with a credible draw against West Ham United before producing an impressive 2-0 victory against Southampton.
And with Everton not facing title-chasing Liverpool until 4.30pm on Sunday, the Turf Moor outfit will have the opportunity to leap-frog the Toffees, if they can get at least a draw at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers a couple of hours beforehand. With two good results kicking off his interim period in the hot seat, former Tranmere Rovers manager Jackson feels his players have come together at just the right time.
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Speaking in his weekly pre-match press conference, he said: “For me, every credit goes to the players. Everyone around the club has come together and mucked in, but the players are the ones who go out and play the game. They are the ones under the pressure, under the lights. We’re just there to guide them and give them that helping hand when they need it.”
Jackson has stepped up from his coaching role at Burnley to look after first team affairs alongside Academy Director Paul Jenkins and captain Ben Mee, following long-term manager Sean Dyche's sacking in the wake of a sorry 2-0 defeat to bottom club Norwich City. But the tough mentality instilled by Jackson's predecessor has already come back to the fore, according to the ex-Tranmere and Stockport County centre-back.
He said: “You don’t get to this level and play as many games as you have without being that sort of character. Sometimes you just get labelled as ‘experienced’. But they are good players and good characters. Sometimes we forget that. I’ve watched them for years on the telly, and I’ve been here for six months and seen them work every day – they are good players and they just found themselves a little bit.”
Despite starting the weekend behind Everton, Burnley will now play their next three matches before the Blues each time, forcing questions to be asked of Frank Lampard's side. When asked if this gave the Clarets an advantage in the race to beat the drop, Jackson added: “It can be, if you win! It will give you an advantage as other teams look at you and see your result, that’s a good thing to have.
“But there is pressure all the time. After going through this the last few days, I see the other Premier League managers and the pressure they must be under constantly and the way they deal with it, these are top guys. Speaking about the gaffer who left as well, these are top, top people at the top of their profession.”
