BROWNHILL HAPPY WITH SHOWING AT LUTON

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Captain on impressive opening game performance

2024-08-12T23:54:14.914Z

BROWNHILL HAPPY WITH SHOWING AT LUTON

Captain on impressive opening game performance

2024-08-12T23:54:14.914Z

Burnley captain Josh Brownhill says Monday nights’ 4-1 win at Luton Town sends a strong message to the rest of the EFL Sky Bet Championship.

The skipper scored the first goal of four in what had been anticipated as a tough task at Kenilworth Road, giving Burnley a big boost on opening weekend.

“It was a massive performance. It was a very tough first game of the season but there’s no better way to show yourself than to come to places like this early on and sort of make a little bit of a statement, you know we’re ready for this league.

“I felt that buzz in the week, the day to day and in the dressing room. It was that feeling of ‘we’re going to go out there and bring that energy’ and there’s no better way to start than scoring early on. It’s a tough place to come to, sometimes your game plans don’t really work as much as ours did for the majority of the game. But we knew it was going to be really hard and I felt overall we were outstanding.”

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With a new Head Coach and some new signings, does the 28-year-old feel that the performance has laid down a marker?

“It has. We put in a lot of hard work during pre-season and that’s what pre-season’s for. Sometimes it can take a little bit of time to get to know him, to understand the players that we have for him, and everything just came together today.

“We knew that we could get in behind, we’ve got quick players up front - apart from me! We knew we were going to have some chances here.”

Joking aside, he did show pace when he opened the scoring early on!

“I have a little bit of pace, that’s what I mean, but I didn’t expect that! I’m delighted to score obviously but more importantly it’s the result that mattered. To come here and to win in the manner that we did, four goals, it was a pity we couldn’t keep a clean sheet but they are going to cause a lot of problems. They did that in the Premier League last year, throughout the season, they are a really good team and today was no different.”

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After a challenging Premier League campaign last season, the celebrations on the night showed just how much the win meant to the players and Brownhill was thrilled to give something back to the fans.

“We want to repay the fans because of all the support that they gave us last year and we couldn’t quite do it for them. The Premier League is a tough league, we found that out over the years, it’s not easy. It’s getting harder and harder. To get relegated was devastating but there’s no better way to repay the fans, first game of the season, away, the support was fantastic coming all the way here, and to win a game.

“This year there’s going to be a lot of football games to win, so hopefully there’s a lot more to cheer about than last season.”

Last time out in the Championship the Clarets stormed the league with 101 points, has that added any pressure?

“It’s a completely different season. Yes, we had an amazing season that year. Is it going to be the same again this year? Probably not. It’s really hard, there’s some really good teams in this division. We want it to be, and we’ll certainly fight for that, but we know it’s going to be really difficult. There’s no better way to start though than to come here and get the three points.”

Finally, with a 4-1 win to kick-off the campaign, will there be a good atmosphere on the coach journey home?

“Absolutely, it’s been a long time since we won a game of football, so the atmosphere is always good in the dressing room! I’m sure it is for the fans on the way home, makes the journey worth it, and hopefully we can win the other games.”