If he wasn’t required on the left side of the Rovers defence, there is every chance that Scott Wharton would be among the travelling contingent at Turf Moor tomorrow for a game he says requires no introduction.

Salesbury-born Wharton is one of Rovers’ homegrown Academy graduates set to feature at Turf Moor tomorrow afternoon in a top-of-the-table East Lancashire derby.

Wharton believes the added element of knowing top spot is at stake, even at this early stage of the season, adds ‘a bit of spice’ to the game, one which is followed by a month-long World Cup break.

“It’s definitely the biggest game of our season so far, without a shadow of a doubt,” the 25-year-old said.

“The way the two teams are positioned, first and second, it makes it an even bigger game.

“The fact that whoever wins goes into the World Cup break top of the table makes it even bigger.”

While a win on Sunday would mean everything to supporters, Wharton says Rovers’ positive start to the season can’t be overlooked, irrespective of what happens at Turf Moor tomorrow, particularly given the change that the club went through over the summer.

“It’s still early on in the season, we’re not even halfway through, but being first and second going into a four-week break with the World Cup, for the team to reset and do a lot of training, there’s more on the game, definitely,” he added.

“We’re going into the game to give our all, we’ve got a good bunch of lads who've done excellently so far this year.

“Going into the break, no matter what, we’ve had a great start to the season and people probably haven’t expected us to be in the position that we are which is credit to everyone at the club, the lads, the staff, especially with a new manager, losing some players, bringing others in, I think we’ve done really well so far.

“We need to go into Sunday and give it our best.”

Wharton was one of the senior players that didn’t travel to West Ham United in midweek for the Carabao Cup tie in order to rest up and prepare for the trip to Burnley, and says he needs no extra motivation going into the game.

He added: “Everyone in the dressing room knows it’s a big game, we’re looking forward to it and I don’t think too much needs to be said.

“Me personally I don’t need to get myself that motivated because I know how much it means to the fans and the people in the club.

“I know it’s a big game, I’ll be up for it no doubt.

“Players are different, there will be lads in the dressing room getting themselves revved up and others who will just be switched on to do their role within the game.

“The team, the lads, everyone is ready to go.”

Wharton understandably said the Burnley fixture was the first one he looked for when they were released in June, and knows the chance that the Rovers players have of writing their name into club folklore.

Victory over the Clarets would be the perfect result to send Rovers into the World Cup break in the best possible frame, in terms of league position and mood.

“It’s been really good,” Wharton said of Rovers’ start to the season.

“It will take time to get to where we’re playing in the way the manager wants and how he wants us to work, but I think the way we’ve played and got results so far, off the back off the hard work we did under (Tony) Mowbray, especially last season.

“We should have got into the play-offs, we know that, we missed out, but it was a good season, and we’ve taken last season into this season and kicked on a bit more.

“If we’re getting better and better each season then it’s positive for the club that we’re going in the right direction.”

Burnley’s long unbeaten run came to an end against Sheffield United last weekend, losing 5-2 having shipped four goals in the second half.

Their vulnerability from set plays was highlighted, an area that Rovers could look to exploit.

Wharton could well be pivotal to that, scoring in wins over Hartlepool United and Sunderland earlier this season.

But he doesn’t attribute any extra significance to that particular route to goal this weekend.

He added: “Set pieces have worked well this year, and we’ve created opportunities from them.

“It’s nothing different from any other game, we work on it every week and try and score from them.”

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