Burnley boss Vincent Kompany gives honest assessment of his side's 1-1 draw at West Brom

Burnley boss Vincent Kompany admitted his side were not at the races in Friday night's agonising draw at West Bromwich Albion.
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Jay Rodriguez's first-half penalty was cancelled out by new Baggies signing Brandon Thomas-Asante's last-gasp equaliser as the Clarets spurned the chance to go top of the Championship ahead of the weekend's games on Saturday.

Burnley never got into their stride in the Midlands, second best to every ball in the first half and were fortunate to go into the half-time interval in front.

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Of course, a point stings for the Clarets with a victory so close to being sealed, especially with their backs to the wall for most of the last 15 minutes and the majority of the first half.

Burnley manager Vincent KompanyBurnley manager Vincent Kompany
Burnley manager Vincent Kompany

And for the first time in his tenure, Kompany admitted his players were tired, leggy and ultimately paid the price.

"In the end, it’s a good point," he said.

"It's the first time we looked a little more leggy. The effort was there, we didn’t take our eye off the ball. But the players were tired for the first time (in his spell)."

Kompany admitted that, albeit with two or three new signings unable to come into the frame due to the little amount of time they've had to spend in Lancashire, that his team selection could have been different.

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But the Belgian knew that he couldn't completely change the team against one of the more organised outfits in the league; and opted for a blend of fresh legs and experienced heads who had featured for large parts of the early weeks of the season.

He added: "It was a good lesson for the group. As well as some players have done so far, today was a day to get fresh legs in. Either you lose organisation or you recover fresh legs. There have been no signs of weakening so far, but it was a little bit too much, too late today.

"There are a lot of faces that I’m excited to see wear a Burnley shirt. We have a good mix of experience, talent and potential for now."

Kompany did try to change things by hooking Ian Maatsen, who had struggled against one of the league's more experienced and talented wingers in Jed Wallace, and Nathan Tella on the hour mark.

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“I thought the winger had the better of our players [Maatsen], that needed solving. On the other side as well, we weren’t really threatening, and that’s why we killed two birds with one stone,” he added.