We’ll go to USA in tip-top condition, says Burnley boss (From Lancashire Telegraph)

We’ll go to USA in tip-top condition, says Burnley boss

3:30pm Thursday 9th July 2009 in

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NEWLY-promoted Burnley will fly out to America next week with most of their squad already having a full 90 minutes under their belt.

That is the intention of manager Owen Coyle, as preparations for the new Premier League campaign step up with the first of eight senior friendlies kicking off at Bradford City on Saturday.

The Clarets then travel to another League Two side, Morecambe, on Tuesday night before jetting to the States the following Thursday for a training camp and two further games.

Coyle raised eyebrows when he packed last summer full of games – nine in total – but reaped the benefits by winning promotion to the Premier League, via the play-offs, in May, in what was their 61st game in all competitions.

This year’s programme is similar, with tours of America and Scotland again scheduled, before the 2009/10 campaign gets underway at Stoke City on August 15. And with the Clarets boss anticipating having the smallest squad in the top division, he is hoping for similar results from their summer endeavours.

“I remember at the start of last season, when we’d been through a couple of bad results, I read something that suggested the amount of games we’d played in pre-season would catch up with us,” he said.

“I had to laugh, because first and foremost I’ve no room for negativity anywhere, but there’s no doubt the pre-season we had stood us in good stead over the course because we had that base. I’ve always said that’s so important.

“I don’t believe another squad would have coped with the amount of games given the amount of players we had. We finished the season with 18 players, so that’s why pre-season is so important, to have that foundation.”

And, so far, Coyle is pleased with the way his players are shaping up for the new campaign.

“The lads are training great and look fit and strong,” he said.

“When we have our first game at Bradford on Saturday, 11 players will play the first 45 and then another 11 will play the second half. It will be the same again at Morecambe.”

A ninth pre-season friendly has also been arranged for a Burnley XI made up of senior and youth team players, against Chester City on July 30.

“Because we’ve got the five young lads coming on to be professionals, within the amount of games we’ve got, some of those are set aside for the younger ones,” said Coyle, who offered professional deals to youth team graduates Wes Fletcher, Chris Lynch, Chris Anderson, Nik Kudiersky and Alex-Ray Harvey, while Ben Hoskin has begun a three-month trial.

“It’s always my belief that each and every player should probably have a minimum of four, but hopefully five, 90 minutes under their belt.

“Whether that’s 60 minutes here and 30 minutes there, in effect they probably should be looking at having game time of between 400-450 minutes in pre-season, so when they go into the season they have the foundation of fitness and game sharpness to get up to match speed.”