McNeil Fit And Ready To Help Burnley Fire

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Winger's return a tonic for Clarets as they look to regain momentum

2021-01-16T16:00:00.000Z

McNeil Fit And Ready To Help Burnley Fire

Winger's return a tonic for Clarets as they look to regain momentum

2021-01-16T16:00:00.000Z

Winger's return a tonic for Clarets as they look to regain momentum

Dwight McNeil is delighted to be back in business and ready to help the Clarets’ rediscover their route to goal.

McNeil’s absence from the starting line-up has seen Burnley lose three of their last four Premier League games – all by a single goal.

But the winger followed up a 25-minute run-out against Manchester United with the full second half at West Ham – where an early Michail Antonio strike was enough to give the Irons victory.

McNeil was the shining light as the Clarets pressed for an equaliser with what would have been their first goal on the road in three games.

PL REPORT: West Ham Utd 1 Burnley 0 - Image 1

And having fully recovered from the groin injury that had forced him to miss his first Premier League games in almost two years, the 21-year-old will have a key role to play in helping Sean Dyche’s men regain their momentum.

“It’s been frustrating, but you could also say it was time for a little rest and a break for me,” said McNeil, whose cross that hit the Hammers’ bar was as close as the Clarets came to claiming a point.

“It’s just good to be back. Everyone is getting fit now and it’s good to see a full squad back.

“I feel good and I am just happy to get some minutes in coming back from injury.

“It was a difficult start fort us, especially away from home.

“But I thought the lads reacted well in the first half and then came out in the second half and looked more of a threat.

McNeil Fit And Ready To Help Burnley Fire - Image 2

“We are just missing that final key pass and that goal at the moment.

“It’s hard. We are getting as many people as we can into the box and trying to create chances but we are not scoring enough goals at the moment.

“You can see we haven’t got that little bit of confidence at the minute, but I think once we get the next couple of goals we will have that confidence back in the team and we’ll score more again.”

After a run of just one defeat in seven games up to Christmas had lifted the Clarets clear of the bottom three, the result at the London Stadium saw them slip a place to 17th in the table.

The gap above the relegation places is back to four points but McNeil is backing Dyche’s squad to come through their latest challenge as they prepare to go to champions Liverpool next Thursday night.

“The game on Thursday is a massive game. We didn’t do too badly there last year, although that’s gone and we have to look forward to this time and taking care of ourselves,” he told Clarets +.

“We are an experienced group. We have got some big games coming up and we are just looking forward as a team.

“We’ve been through it before and we’re going through it a tiny bit now.

“We were in a worse position two seasons ago and managed to get ourselves out of it and I’m sure we’ll do it again.”