(Reuters) - Burnley are hoping to capitalise on early-season uncertainty as they bid to emerge from a visit to Stamford Bridge on Saturday with a surprise win over Premier League champions Chelsea, the Lancashire club's defender Ben Mee has said.
Last season, Burnley lost 3-0 at Chelsea and drew 1-1 at Turf Moor but Mee believes that results early in the last campaign, including home wins over Liverpool and Everton and a draw at Manchester United, are a cause for optimism.
"You might as well play them early, you might catch them by surprise, you never know," Mee told British media.
"It's a tough start but we've got some good games coming up in the first few matches and it's exciting. Our performances against the big teams were pretty good last year, barring Chelsea away.
"The rest of them were actually really good performances and we were unlucky not to get something from a couple of them, but it'll be a really good test for us early in the season."
Mee believes that Chelsea's new striker Alvaro Morata, who joined from Spanish champions Real Madrid last month, could pose a threat to Burnley defenders but is confident that team will come up with and stick to a solid game plan.
"It will be good to see what Morata is like on Saturday," Mee added.
"For a defender especially it's worth watching strikers movements, not too much, not overkill but I think you can get an idea of what type of player they are like...
"Some players have different styles but that won't affect the way that we go about our business. We'll have a game-plan and I'm sure we'll have the same game-plan regardless of whoever plays up front."
(Reporting by Aditi Prakash in Bengaluru; Editing by John O'Brien)
