BURNLEY manager Eddie Howe branded Saturday’s 1-0 win over Sunderland as a “good end” to pre-season.
Jay Rodriguez’s second goal of the summer, from the spot, was enough to separate the Clarets from the Premier League big spenders on a sunny afternoon at Turf Moor.
And boss Howe is pleased with the stage of preparations that his players are at with less than a week to go until the season proper begins.
“This week’s going to be a good week in terms of doing a lot of tactical work and final preparations but I think we’re where we want to be,” he said.
“Fitness wise the lads are fine.”
And Howe was pleased to report a clean bill of health after completing six pre-season friendlies.
“Touch wood, we’re okay,” he continued.
“It’s been good in pre-season in terms of injuries. There’s always a delicate balance between how much you work the players and that breaking point.
“So far we’ve been okay.”
Of the game itself, in which he made a number of changes at half-time and during the second half, Howe added: “I think it was a good end to pre-season for us.
“In the first half I thought we were excellent and in control of the game.
"There wasn’t a lot of goalmouth action really for both sides – it was a typical pre-season game in that sense – but in the second half we dug in.
“We knew with the changes we made we’d be slightly weaker but we defended really well and saw the game out in a professional way.
“I thought everyone played their part – even the young lads when they came on really had a go and stuck in there and showed us what they’re about. I thought it was a really positive day for us.”
Although Rodriguez took responsibility for the 31st-minute penalty, after being brought down by Titus Bramble, Howe revealed that he is not yet set on a new penalty taker following the departure of Graham Alexander and Chris Eagles.
“We’ll wait and see. We’ll have a think about that during the week,” said the Burnley boss.
“There was a little battle I think for the ball and Jay got there first, so he took it and scored.
“It was good to score and good to win the game.”
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