Ashley Barnes on his Burnley cup brace and missing out on first career hat-trick
Ashley Barnes spoke of his delight after bagging his first goals since March on a rare Burnley start in the cup.
The 36-year-old notched a brace in Burnley’s 5-1 FA Cup thrashing of Millwall on Saturday to help send Scott Parker’s side through to the fourth round.
It was Barnes’ first goals since the 4-0 win over Luton Town last season, as well as his first brace since his famous double in the derby against Blackburn Rovers in 2022.
The club stalwart, starting for the first time this season, was inevitably over the moon to get back on the scoresheet.
“I’m absolutely delighted to get those goals,” he told Burnley’s YouTube channel.
“To see my name on the teamsheet put a big smile on my face, so I just wanted to go out there and enjoy myself.
“Luckily enough I got two goals, but more importantly we’re into the next round of the cup.”
Looking at the bigger picture, Barnes hopes this convincing victory can provide a springboard for some improved results in the Premier League.
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“Today was about our reaction coming off the back of a draw [against Manchester United] the other day and some bad results, so it was nice to get that feelgood factor back around the ground,” he added.
“We had to concentrate on ourselves and luckily enough we put in a professional performance.
“After one [goal] we just wanted to keep going and be ruthless, which is something we’ve probably lacked a little bit in the league.
“This breeds confidence within the group and it was great to have that feelgood factor after the game and coming into the changing room.
“We’ve got to build on this, we’ve got to take this into our league form now and hopefully we go and surprise a few at Liverpool next weekend.”
While the striker was delighted to get back among the goals, he was still a little gutted to miss out on what would have been a first career hat-trick – although it wasn’t for the want of trying.
He added: “I was ruined, my hamstring was getting a bit tight at the end but I was just trying and trying to finish it off with a hat trick, but unfortunately it didn’t come.”
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