Burnley boss Scott Parker discusses Manchester United woes ahead of Old Trafford visit
Scott Parker has played down the notion of this being a good time for his Burnley side to take on Manchester United.
Only three games into the season, pressure is already mounting on manager Ruben Amorim following the Red Devils’ midweek cup embarrassment at the hands of League Two side Grimsby Town.
Having only picked up one point from their opening two league games, there’s likely to be a bit of edginess around Old Trafford on Saturday as the Clarets come to town.
Parker, however, isn’t interested in United’s woes and insists all of his focus is on what his Burnley side can do to pick up a positive result.
“First and foremost, we're playing against an exceptional, historic football club,” he said.
“They have immense quality in their side, which we're fully aware of. You only have to see their frontline and what they've done over the summer to see they've got some exceptional players and players that can change games at any moment.
“The ups and downs and the bumps of football sometimes bring different results. But we're under no illusions of the task we have ahead of us at the weekend. As always, we go in there with a full belief that we can try and perform to our level.
"I don't really look into whether it's good moments or bad moments. There's always flip sides to that. You can look at one side of it and say: ‘it's a bit of a wounded animal with world-class players that can obviously have a reaction’.
“On the other side, of course, there may be a bit of edginess. But fundamentally, we'll try and give our best version and take on that task.”
When asked if it could benefit his side going under the radar while all the attention is on United’s troubles, Parker added: “It is nice, although it does quickly change. In the world of football, that can quickly change from one week to the next or one day to the next. There's always eyes on someone.
“But I'm not really focusing too much on Man Utd's current situation. Good, bad, unbelievable, whatever it may be.
“The main focus really is on us. It's a mantra that I fully believe in: control the controllables. I've said this to this team for what, 13 or 14 months now? I won't change that. Every game, we focus on ourselves.
“We debrief one game, bad, good, terrible, whatever it may be. We debrief it. We move on very, very quickly.
“Let's not worry about what others are doing, what they're currently doing and what they're not doing.
“I realise a long time in life and certainly in professional sport, that you drown yourself worrying about too much. It consumes a lot of energy, a lot of belief at certain times, and you probably don't get the best version of yourself.
“So single focus for us is us, what we need to do, what we need to bring, what we need to be every single day - and that's exactly where we go.”
Your next Burnley FC read: Pressure mounting on Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim ahead of Burnley visit