EKDAL EXCITED FOR ‘SURREAL’ PREMIER LEAGUE CHAPTER

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Swedish defender relishing opportunity of playing at the top

2023-08-08T12:00:00.000Z

EKDAL EXCITED FOR ‘SURREAL’ PREMIER LEAGUE CHAPTER

Swedish defender relishing opportunity of playing at the top

2023-08-08T12:00:00.000Z

Swedish defender relishing opportunity of playing at the top

Hjalmar Ekdal describes now being a Premier League football as ‘surreal’ after growing up in Sweden as a child and watching England’s top-flight matches every weekend.

The centre-back arrived at Turf Moor in January from Djurgardens IF after spending all his footballing career in his native country prior to the move and is now excited by the prospect of playing in the Premier League.

Ekdal featured nine times in the Championship last season including a goal and clean sheet on his debut against Norwich City helping the Clarets on their way to sealing the league title in impressive style.

The 24-year-old says he is going to ‘try and enjoy the moment’ but insists the team must continue their hard work and perform week in week out to succeed as the Swedish international prepares for the 2023/24 campaign.

Ekdal said: “It’s going to be a really cool experience first of all, like you said I’ve never experienced it before.

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“I’m really going to try and enjoy moments and take it all in but of course we want to perform as well as we can and we need to continue the hard work and can’t let it slip.

“I’ve been watching the Premier League ever every weekend since I was a kid so being here now, in reality, feels kind of surreal so I’m really going to try and enjoy the moment and actually realise that we are here.”

Vincent Kompany’s side kick off the season on Friday night when last season’s treble winners Manchester City come to town.

Ekdal says the Clarets must go into the fixture with ‘no fear’ and play the Burnley way but must be aware of the talented opposition in front of them.

“It’s all about going out there with no fear and no respect really and to play how we play and hopefully that can bring us a good result but we are well aware we are playing against one of the best teams in the world.

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“Every game is just as important in terms of three points being at stake every game but when you play teams like this, I can imagine you get that extra adrenaline and extra energy before the game, so you want to always perform well in these kinds of games.

“As a team, we played [Manchester] United and [Manchester] City last year and they were both tough games but against United we put in a good performance, City was harder, but the first half was good even though in the second half they scored a lot of goals.

“In the big picture, I think we did well and now we’re in the Premier League, so I think we’re even more prepared and ready to play those other teams.”

Friday will be the first time the Clarets have featured at Turf Moor since the final game of last season against Cardiff City and Ekdal believes it’s an advantage kicking off the league campaign at home and that the supporters can play their part.

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The Swede said: “It’s going to be an advantage to play at home, especially for the big teams with the big stadiums and the massive amount of fans supporting them.

“When they are away, they might not feel as safe and at home so it’s going to be an advantage to play at home.

“I’m really looking forward to playing in front of the fans, as we haven’t been in front of them all this pre-season so it’s going to be good to be back at Turf Moor. I hope we can get that same positive feeling at home this year.”