Burnley away has historically been framed as a baptism of fire for players new to English football but Frank Lampard believes that is an unfair stereotype ahead of Chelsea’s visit to Turf Moor this afternoon.
The head coach could name all six summer signings in a starting line-up for the first time and said filing them in a category alongside Stoke or Wimbledon from previous years is a little unfair.
Last Monday’s defeat to Tottenham showed how Burnley can mix it and are not a one-trick pony that aims to go long at every opportunity.
“I think with the Premier League it brings different styles but I do get wary of trying to box off Burnley as that game, trying to compare them to an old Wimbledon or a stereotype,” Lampard said.
“I don’t see that. I see a team that are very strong at set pieces and crosses into the box because they have physical players and they do that part of the game well.
"But when I saw a team that played against Tottenham for instance last week, they tried to move the ball, they try and play sometimes through the lines, they have players like McNeil who have quality on the ball and can try and find passes. [Josh] Brownhill and others.
“I don’t think we should overstate the fact that they are a direct team. They have that weapon. They also can play.
"I’ll make the players very aware of that and of course the physical nature of the game, because that’s what it is in a game like this. The players need to grasp that very quickly because they’re a very effective team.”
