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Clarets' captain relishing prospect of returning fans to Turf Moor

2021-07-16T16:01:59.782Z

THE MORE THE MERRIER FOR MEE

Clarets' captain relishing prospect of returning fans to Turf Moor

2021-07-16T16:01:59.782Z

Ben Mee is looking forward to the return of fans to Turf Moor to help the Clarets regain home advantage.

Behind-closed-doors football during the pandemic skewed the usual home and away win ratios virtually across the board.

The Clarets have certainly felt it – winning just four times on their own patch last season.

That was offset by six away victories – one short of the Clarets’ record Premier League tally – as Sean Dyche’s men comfortably secured their top-flight status for a sixth successive season.

But Mee believes having the renewed backing of fans at Turf Moor – which was permitted to host a crowd of 3,500 for the final home game of last season – will be key to the Clarets’ bid to regain more normal service.

“I can’t say how excited I am to get people back,” said the Clarets’ skipper.

“The Euros have given a bit of a taste of having fans back and how much that means.

“Having 3,500 at Turf Moor for the Liverpool game was brilliant and gave us a good buzz.

“I am really excited to start the season and get that first game underway, hopefully all being well and fingers crossed, at a packed Turf Moor.

“Fans behind us at Turf Moor will hopefully bring back that 'tough place to come mentality' and we can use that to our advantage.”

With Covid restrictions being further eased next week, the current plans are for capacity crowds to return to stadia.

And with the Clarets kicking off at home to Brighton they will be looking to hit the ground running and improve on last season’s slow start, which brought Dyche’s men just one win in their opening 10 league games and left them playing catch-up from mid-winter on.

“The lads have come back the best I have seen,” added Mee, who has clocked on for his 11th pre-season with the Clarets after reaching a decade of defensive duty for the club earlier this week.

“Everyone has been putting the work in in the off-season, definitely. Everyone is doing the running and looking really good.

“That's exciting and we all are raring to go.

“That's definitely a priority to get points under our belts early on and get off to a good start. We don't want to be relying on a good second half of this season.

“We want to get off to a good start and work from there.

“We have got plenty of experience and we are always optimistic, enthusiastic of where we can go in the season and it's no different this season.”

Watch the full interview with the skipper on Clarets+ on the video above as he looks back on 10 years at Turf Moor.