HAYEN'S PRESS POINTS: NOTTS COUNTY

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Head Coach Hayen's first Burnley press conference

2026-08-06T16:40+01:00

HAYEN'S PRESS POINTS: NOTTS COUNTY

Head Coach Hayen's first Burnley press conference

2026-08-06T16:40+01:00

Saturday afternoon will see Nicky Hayen's side kick-off their competitive campaign against Notts County in the First Round of the Carabao Cup.

The new Head Coach sat down with the media on Thursday afternoon to discuss the start of the season, creating a winning culture and building competition within the squad.

NOTTS COUNTY

“I’m looking forward to our first game. We had a pre-season where we didn’t win one game, so this is actually something that we really want to change.

“We know we had a short time to prepare for the first cup game. What I see day by day in training is that they are improving, the level is becoming higher. There was already a big difference between the games in the US and the Ajax game. Against Espanyol you really saw the way we want to play, and against Torino, where we had two different approaches.

“In the US, the players didn’t know me well, the way I play. Over pre-season we wanted to get as much information as possible and find as many answers as possible. I think we had two really interesting games to find these answers.

“I think the fans have already seen some ideas from us. It was not always executed in the best way, but you saw that the ideas were there. And now we have to execute it to the highest standard possible. Starting with the game against Notts County.”

CREATING A WINNING CULTURE

“I just had a conversation about how we can create a group in the dressing room, to create a winning culture. It doesn’t start just in the game but also in training sessions. It starts with the individual mentality of a player. There’s a lot of work that’s going on at the moment of what we want to do.

“We have a certain style of play that we want to implement into the stadium but also the energy that we want to bring. We can expect from the fans that they cheer for us, and they’re supporting us. But first of all, they have to identify with us.

“We have to bring this energy, and it has to be contagious, so they feel like this is the football we want to see, we’re going to support them. You have to have a really good connection between the players and the fans.”

THE GOALKEEPERS

“We’re looking, Ben knows his role. He’s a senior player who can also play games. But we’re also looking for a second goalkeeper who can also compete with Max to keep his high standards.

“We need competition in the selection. Then we push ourselves to the best level.

“Max is a solid goalkeeper. We saw his saves against Torino, he’s also comfortable on the ball. This is necessary in the way we want to play so I’m quite satisfied about his level at the moment.

“Ben is a senior player who has the experience of working in a top club but also knows the culture of the club here. He knows what we want in terms of a professional level and he is someone who tries to help secure that culture and what’s needed to win trophies.”

AMDOUNI & ROBERTS UPDATE

“Zeki came in quite well, really motivated and this is something that I like about him. He came in with a really good mindset, in good shape. He had a good session today so we’re considering taking him in the squad for Saturday.

“Connor’s back with the training squad too and had a good session today. It’s likely he can also make the squad for Saturday.”