Aaron Lennon hopes the international break can tip things in Burnley’s favour when they take on Newcastle on Monday.
The two teams are locked together on nine points towards the wrong end of the Premier League table but go into the match in contrasting form.
Seven of Newcastle’s points have come in the last three games, with a draw against Southampton followed by victories over Watford and Bournemouth, while Burnley have taken only one point from their last four games.
Clarets winger Lennon said: “They’ve had a couple of good results recently but the international break probably has slowed them down a little bit – we hope. It’s been good for us. We’ve managed to get some great work in this week and the international lads are all back in so we’re looking forward to it.
“The game being not until Monday we’ve managed to get some good sessions in. We’ve worked four days in a row and, not just the football, we’ve topped up our fitness this week and hopefully it will stand us in good stead for the run coming up.”
Burnley looked to have put a sticky start behind them with back-to-back wins over Bournemouth and Cardiff in September but their first three games after the last international break saw them concede 13 goals in defeats by Manchester City, Chelsea and West Ham.
It was a far cry from the defensive solidity that was the foundation of last season’s impressive seventh-placed finish, but injury problems are starting to ease and Burnley at least went into the break on the back of a goalless draw in an emotional game at Leicester.
“We needed it,” said Lennon. “We conceded a lot of goals and it wasn’t like us. We got the work on the training pitch and we worked again at keeping clean sheets and making blocks and being a bit like ourselves.
“It was a great point and to get the clean sheet was great. We know we’re not far off it and the lads are in good spirits.”
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