Burnley boss Vincent Kompany outlines what he expects from Championship clash with West Brom

The Clarets will be looking to make it four wins in five matches and capitalise on West Brom’s recent winless run when the sides meet at the Hawthorns on Friday night.

However, with Steve Bruce’s men among the early-season favourites to be in the mix for promotion, Kompany knows that it won’t be an easy night at the office.

“There’s quite a few (tough opponents) in this league,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s really clear yet who’s going to be at the top and who’s going to be at the bottom, that’s how close it is.

“But you can see that West Brom and Norwich have got enough quality in there to be a goal threat and score goals and will probably pick up pace during the season.

“These games, I don’t want to dismiss them as just a game along the road. It’s a big game and we’ll need to be ready to give it a good go.”

Despite only winning one of their last five, West Brom drew three and scored eight goals across the five games so aren’t exactly short of firepower.

“I think the season so far has been kind of what everybody predicted,” said Kompany.

“I don’t think anyone has just run off and it’s been tight so it’s not abnormal to see West Brom where they are. It’s been the same story for everyone.

“But what you do see in their game is a team that creates a lot of chances.

“They’re willing to put the ball in the box, they’ve got numbers there, it’s a team who has been on top in a game where they probably should have got more.”

However, since the start of the campaign, the Burnley boss has seen some impressive football from his own side.

“We’ve had since the beginning of the season some well-crafted chances that involve quite a few players,” he said.

“To get those spaces you have to work the ball into those spaces and that’s what we did very well against Millwall.

“For what they’ve done so far, it’s been quicker than I anticipated.”