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Stephen Ward “Newcastle are proving people wrong”

6 years ago
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Stephen Ward says that promoted clubs are normally expected to be towards the bottom end of the table.

However, if Newcastle win on Monday night they will go into the top six.

The Burnley left-back thinks that ‘Newcastle are proving people wrong’ at the moment with their points total and league position.

Stephen Ward expecting ‘a tough game’ when the two sides meet at Turf Moor, with Burnley facing a new challenge this campaign.

Last season they had a ridiculous split in form, at home the Clarets had 10 wins and three draws, whilst away they had only one win and four draws.

Ward believing that clubs are coming to Burnley and setting up differently.

This season the home form has been mediocre with draws against West Ham and Huddersfield, with only one win v Palace and a defeat to West Brom.

In contrast, away from home they already have more points in five games than they picked up on their travels all last season.

Their eight points have come from impressive wins at Chelsea and Everton, plus draws at Tottenham and Liverpool, a defeat at Man City the only loss in their last game.

The two teams came into this weekend divided by only one point and one place in the table, with the pair likely to be similarly close at the end of the season, unless anything goes drastically wrong for either.

Stephen Ward says that Sean Dyche has drilled into his Burnley team to make sure they don’t lose, if a game isn’t going their way.

Rafa Benitez meeting Sean Dyche might not end up one for the purists tomorrow but you can rely on commitment all round when they meet.

A massive three points for either team if they can win.

Stephen Ward:

“Any team that gets promoted is expected to be down at the lower end of the table.

“It happened with us last year and it happens with most teams that come up.

“Newcastle are proving people wrong at the minute and we know it’s going to be a tough game.

“But coming back to Turf Moor it’s important we put on a performance and hopefully put some points on the board.

“I wouldn’t say our home form, but our home performances, have been a little bit indifferent and a little bit below the standards we like to set ourselves.

“At this stage last season, we’d one defeat at home and we’ve got the same again now. People are talking about the home form, but we’ve still picked up a decent points’ return.

“It’s just I think maybe our performances haven’t been the same as they were last year.

 “I suppose they look at that second-season syndrome and teams maybe try and work you out a little bit more.

“That can do with people coming and setting up differently maybe to the way they did last year.

“That’s a challenge for us and we need to find different ways to win games and different ways to break teams down.

“We have worked a lot on that in pre-season and throughout the season so far.

“We’ve been a bit disappointed with a couple of the games. But one of the gaffer’s mantras when we speak after the game is that sometimes if you can’t win, it’s important not to lose.

“Although performances haven’t been what we would have liked them to have been at home we have had to stick in there and make sure we take something from the game, which is important in this league because every point is so vital.”

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