Mears: give Clarets due credit

Posted Saturday, October 24, 2009 by PA

Burnley defender Tyrone Mears believes the club deserve more credit than they are receiving for the start they have made to life in the Barclays Premier League.

The Clarets host Wigan on Saturday and stand 10th in the table having won all four of their league fixtures at Turf Moor since their promotion from the Coca-Cola Championship.

Their away form has been a different story though, with the 3-2 defeat in last Sunday's east Lancashire derby at Blackburn making it five losses out of five for Owen Coyle's team on the road.

It is a statistic that is threatening to overshadow the club's otherwise impressive return to the top flight, but Mears believes Burnley's critics are looking for any excuse to undermine the team's efforts.

"They are looking right now at the away form and they will try anything to put the club down," said Mears.

"I think it's important that the fans and everyone associated with the club, the team, we all stick together.

"It is due to the manager and the staff the way that we play, the way we pass the ball, the way we move and attack. I think we should be given credit for that.

"A lot of teams that come up and want to stay in this league try to play direct, but we feel it is better suited to our team to try to pass the ball and we have the players that can do that."

Mears joined Burnley on a three-year deal from Derby in the summer after spending a spell on loan at Marseille last season.

He has started every league fixture since then as Coyle's team have continually upset the odds, and the 26-year-old was full of praise for his new manager and the work he has done with limited finances.

"He's a fantastic manager. Everybody knows what he has done for this club," Mears said.

"You have to look at the budget that he has had, taking players that have been in the Championship and players that are really standing out now in the Premier League. I'm sure there will be a lot of clubs looking at our players."

Coyle is likely to have the same squad available for the Wigan fixture as he did for the defeat at Blackburn, a game he felt the team were unlucky to lose.

"There's disappointment after you lose any match and Sunday was no different, particularly given the fact of the local rivalry and everything else that goes with it," Coyle said.

"But we have to move on and pick ourselves up for a massive game at home against a very good Wigan side."

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez is demanding his players impose themselves on Burnley if they are to overcome the intimidation factor at Turf Moor.

The Clarets' form this season in the Barclays Premier League could not be more polarised - four successive wins at home, five straight defeats away.

Another victory in front of their appears to be on the cards tomorrow when a Wigan side that has lost their last four games on the road make the short journey across Lancashire.

Yet Martinez can boast what Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes, Steve Bruce and Alex McLeish have all failed to achieve, and that is a win at Turf Moor this year.

That was back in January when Martinez, then with Swansea, guided his side to a 2-0 victory, since when Burnley have lost just one of their last 17 games on home soil.

"The reality is Turf Moor has become one of the hardest places to play in the Premier League," said Martinez.

"You go to Turf Moor, and it's tough. Look at the results they've had, and that's a clear example of how hard it is to play against them.

"There is an electric, intimidating atmosphere, and their fans do intimidate.

"On the pitch they play with a real high tempo, and have a real threat in every single department.

"So they've not surprised me at all. They've carried their winning mentality and momentum from last season into their home form this season.

"They'll also be wanting to bounce back from the derby defeat to Blackburn last weekend, so I'm sure they'll look to be even more attack-minded this time around.

"We're ready, but we have to be ourselves and impose ourselves in that environment because we all know the Burnley fans make it very special for their players.

"That's the biggest thing, being able to go there and impose yourself."

Martinez has two injury concerns in goalkeeper Chris Kirkland and midfielder Paul Scharner who are struggling with dislocated finger and hip problems respectively.

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