Ben Mee: ‘Clarets ready to take on Chelsea’

The Clarets have responded immediately to conceding against both Celta Vigo and Verona by going up the other end to score themselves.

But defender Ben Mee hopes the side learn their lesson from those games and build on their miserly defence of last season.

Burnley had the best defensive record in the Championship as they won promotion, and Mee said after Satirday’s 3-1 win over Verona: “The character of the team was shown after we conceded again, but against better teams we can’t do that because they will be a lot tighter and have more nous.

“We can’t concede silly goals.

“Second half against Celta Vigo was really tough, but we didn’t get going in the first half against Verona, and five minutes into the second half they were winning a corner and scoring a goal, which we were really unhappy with.

“But from then on we played really well, it was a good test and one we rose to.

“We beat a good side.”

And the former Manchester City man is raring to go on Monday after completing pre-season: “It felt like a proper game against Verona, 3 p.m. kick-off on a Saturday, it felt like the beginning of the season. We’re just all excited about Monday night now, it’s going to be a great occasion.

“Pre-season has been really good, the lads have done really well, they’re all fit and strong and you could see we were getting fitter and stronger towards the end of the game.

“We’re just looking to take it into the season.

“We were stronger and fitter when we came back from our break, comparing fitness stats, and we’ve moved on from there.

“It’s been tough, but good.

“We’re always looking to improve, that’s what the gaffer wants, and Howardy (Mark Howard) is excellent at what he does. We’ve learned a lot from last year, how to look after ourselves and prepare, different shakes and things like that. We’ve been working harder, and trying to do more than last year.”

Burnley have to wait for their Premier League opener, but Mee added: “We’ll be watching it all on the Saturday, and it might be a bit frustrating, but it will be worth waiting for.”