Armando Broja on hitting full fitness for Burnley and what it was like in Chelsea 'bomb squad'

The 24-year-old arrived at Gawthorpe during the summer severely lacking in match fitness after having no real pre-season to fall back on at Chelsea.

The striker has also endured a rough time of it in recent years in terms of injuries, which has meant significant game time has been hard to come by.

But the Albanian has since worked his way into Burnley’s starting XI, getting the nod in back-to-back games, and looking a whole lot sharper. He also bagged his first Clarets goal in the recent 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.

Speaking ahead of this afternoon’s clash at Brighton, Broja spoke about his fitness, Burnley’s season so far and what it was like being part of the infamous Chelsea ‘bomb squad’.

Burnley’s winless run

“Of course it is extremely difficult, especially when you're playing in the Premier League. It's the hardest league in the world for me personally and a lot of other professionals will say the same.

“When things aren't going well, when you're losing games, what we keep to the positives. I feel like we're still playing very good football and we're creating a lot of chances.

“The results aren't going our way and for sure, there are two ways you can go about this. You can look at the positives and try and push on, or you can go the other way and get demoralised and get down.

“But as a team, the manager's built that character in us where no matter what happens, we keep on fighting, we keep on trying to play our style of football, we keep on trying to win, get into games, play our way, try to win games, try to fight, try to come out with a good result, so I feel like that's what we've been trying to do.

“Of course, there are some elements that we can definitely sharpen up on but for sure. But I feel in the last couple of games and over the last couple of weeks, we've been going in the right direction.”

Do you feel like you’re getting sharper?

“For sure.

“I was saying prior to some teammates, I came here and I wasn't at my fittest and I wasn't at my strongest. Everyone could see that within the club.

“I didn't have the greatest of pre-seasons so it was quite tough for me with the all-round situations and things going on.

“It wasn't easy because as a player, you want to help out the team as much as possible straight away. I'm someone who wants to just fly in and try and help out the team, but that wasn't the case.

“I had to wait for opportunities, every player goes through it, you know, but I went through some down times and some bad moments.

“For me, I wanted to help but I couldn't. But the last few weeks have definitely been positive.

“I felt like getting a result at Bournemouth and then obviously the home game against Everton, I definitely felt like there was more in there for us as a team.

“We probably could have nicked the win there [against Everton], which would have been very important.

“But for sure, for me, I feel like game by game I'm definitely getting better, I'm getting more confident, I'm getting stronger and sharper so yeah, I just want to carry on that form and hopefully keep going on.”

Is there pressure on you to step up with Lyle Foster and Zian Flemming out?

“Yeah, of course, although I wouldn't say it's about being the guy because it's obviously a team game. But I do embrace the opportunities and I do embrace the role at the club.

“Obviously with Zian being out and Lyle being away at AFCON, he's with his national team and he's doing really well at the moment so all credit to him.

“But as strikers they drive me on and push me as well to become a better footballer and likewise, I would like to do the same for them, so that healthy competition is always amazing.

“Whenever I'm called upon by the manager, I will do my best to to help out the team as much as possible. I'll try my best in games, I'll give the team everything out there, I'll try my best to help out with general play and obviously to score goals as a striker is the most important thing, so that's what I want to do and that's what I would like to keep doing for sure.”

How important is it to put all your injuries behind you?

“Of course. To go what I've been through with all the injuries and the loans and a lot of negative moments, for sure, it's tough for anyone, for any professional athlete, for any individual. I had a lot of down days, I can tell you that for sure.

“But I had good people around me and I tried to stay focused and Burnley was a massive opportunity for myself to be able to still be playing in the Premier League at a high level, the best league in the world.

“To come here and really try and prove myself, to fight for my opportunities, to get game time, to play, to score goals…I'm trying to embrace every single moment that I'm in.

“Of course it’s been tough, we know that. I know that myself but like I said, I'm going to keep on fighting, I'm going to keep on trying to do the best I can to help this team out as much as possible.”

The Burnley Express has launched a new WhatsApp channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates directly to your phone. Simply click this link to join our Burnley Express WhatsApp channel.

Importance of mental strength

“It's a massive thing. Mental strength is one of the most important things in life.

“Not just in sport, but in life in general, you know you've got to have a strong mentality to get through the negative moments because the negative moments can definitely weigh on your shoulders.

“I've been through a lot so I can express that as well and express the feelings that I had. They weren't obviously nice going through injuries, watching teammates play, you not being involved, being away from the game for a long, long time, going out on loan, not playing, it’s never easy.

“Now it's an opportunity for me to embrace what I'm in, playing in the Premier League. We’d ideally like to be much higher, but we've been having a lot of positives, playing very good football.

“We're going to maintain that level of football but just tying up on a few little bits and hopefully we can start getting some results which we deserve.”

Do you feel like it’s a case of making up for lost time?

“I would say so a little bit.

“I missed quite a lot of football that no player wants to miss. It's been a long, long time, I'm pretty sure it's around two, three years, so it's a lot of time for a young footballer to miss.

“I want to show everyone what I can do, but the most important thing is to help out the team, I want to help out Burnley as much as possible and that's what I'm here to do. I'm here to help them out, get goals, assists, general play, being that man on the pitch that can really help out the team, give them that breath of fresh air.”

How difficult was it at Chelsea during the summer?

“Obviously it was a tough one. The club was obviously at the Club World Cup and there was a lot of talk going around, you know, with this ‘bomb squad’ and everything they had going on. But it wasn’t easy.

“There were a few players that were in a little group, but pre-season is a massive thing for every club and every player to really get yourself ready for the new season which, to be honest, we didn't really have. I didn't really have.

“I tried to do my own thing a little bit as well but it's not the same as being in a team and really pushing yourself and training as a team so it was quite tough.

“But I spoke to the manager, he gave me the opportunity to come here and I was very thankful for that and now I just want to give back to the club and to the fans and also to myself, because I definitely feel like I deserve it.”

Injury scare playing for Albania against England

“Thankfully it wasn’t [anything serious], but it was a little bit of a scare.

“Just going back to the mental side of football, when little things like that happen on the pitch, sometimes your brain tells you it's worse than what it actually is.

“For me, it was one of those little scares where initially I was in a lot of pain and I tried to stand up but I couldn’t walk. Automatically, your brain thinks: ‘oh not this again’ or something has happened.

“It was a little bit of a scare but later on it kind of settled down quite quickly so it wasn't too bad. I was thankful that it's not bad but I definitely feel like I'm getting stronger with myself and hopefully I can stay away from injuries.”

Do you feel like a win is close?

“The results haven't really been adding up a lot to the general performance of how we've been playing.

“I definitely feel like we've been playing some really amazing football, creating a lot of chances to score. It’s just, maybe not putting them away is what's been and a little bit of defensive bits that we can improve as a team. We all know that.

“Obviously conceding two goals in the first seven minutes gives you a massive mountain to climb in the game, but the attitude from the whole team and everyone was amazing after that.

“Brighton are a very good team, they obviously want to play with the ball and dominate the ball. For us, we want to bring the same momentum that we had from Newcastle into this game, because we dominated in very large parts of that game.

“We’ve been creating a lot of chances as a team in recent weeks, so if we can do that again and put some of them away, we’ve got a big chance. It definitely feels like it's been coming.”

Your next Burnley FC read: Esteve, Worrall and Flemming: Burnley team news update ahead of Brighton clash