17 September 2021

Johann Berg Gudmundsson confident Burnley can turn things around

17 September 2021

Johann Berg Gudmundsson insists there is no sense of panic among the Burnley squad despite their poor start to the campaign.

The Clarets have picked up just one point from their first four games ahead of Saturday’s clash with Arsenal at Turf Moor.

Burnley had to wait until their eighth game of last season for a first victory but ended up 11 points clear of the relegation zone, and Gudmundsson believes they can draw confidence from having recovered from poor starts before.

“I think so definitely,” said the Icelander. “Last season we waited a long time for our first win so we’re definitely not panicking yet.

“Our performances have been quite good, it’s just about being able to do it for the whole 90 minutes, to concentrate for the whole time. That’s the next step for us.”

Monday’s defeat by Everton was a case in point, with Burnley taking the lead only to concede three goals in six minutes and lose 3-1.

Gudmundsson said: “It was a bit of a shock. Obviously their equaliser gave the whole stadium a massive boost because we were doing really well, the fans were a bit on them at that time as well.

“It was something that I didn’t like, the whole team didn’t like. It wasn’t good enough for those six minutes.

“Brighton game, Everton game, big parts of those games we’ve done really well. We’ve just become a bit sloppy and conceded sloppy goals, so that’s something we need to fix. It’s something that normally we are better at and we need to figure out what to do and hopefully we can do that on Saturday.”

Burnley boss Sean Dyche must decide whether to throw in new signing Maxwel Cornet, who was an unused substitute against Everton.

The effect of the club’s American takeover could be seen in their increased, if still modest, activity in the transfer window, with five new arrivals.

“All great players,” said winger Gudmundsson. “We’ve known that we needed a bit of a bigger squad to raise the levels in training and to give everybody a boost around the club.

“We’re definitely delighted that we’ve managed to get some really good players in and hopefully they can come on the pitch soon and help us to get some wins and points on the board. It’s definitely a competition for every place and that’s what you like.”

Arsenal picked up their first points last weekend with victory over Norwich but have also had a difficult start to the season.

They have not lost at Turf Moor since 1973 but Gudmundsson sees the match as a good opportunity for Burnley to grab a first league win.

He said: “We know that they think it’s extremely difficult to come to Turf Moor and we’re going to make it extremely difficult and we are confident that our first win is going to come on Saturday.”

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