Burnley’s divisional rivals chase Celtic starlet, Aston Villa could lose star duo this summer

Burnley suffered another dispiriting defeat last weekend, as they slumped to a 2-0 loss away to Brentford.

The result saw the Clarets end the weekend down in 19th place, but the relegation battle is still far from over, and the side could yet escape the drop by winning some of their all-important games in hand.

Speaking after the game, Burnley boss Sean Dyche contended that duo James Tarkowski and Nick Pope should be contenders for a call-up to the England squad ahead of the international break later this month, and said: “It's no question of Gareth [Southgate] and what he has to do, it's just purely on form.

“I've only ever remarked that if there are centre-halves out there playing better than Tarky then they must be playing very, very well, and equally with Popey, and other players, but certainly those two.

“I still think that's valid. Obviously the league table sometimes makes a difference to your thinking, not my thinking, but if you were choosing players maybe that would make a difference."

He added: “I'm just looking at Popey and Tarky thinking 'well, there must be some very, very strong players in the Premier League' if they're not at least in the squad, not necessarily in the team.

“Gareth has got a goalkeeper, the lad from West Brom [Sam Johnstone], who has been in the squad, so therefore it's nothing to do with levels then, is it? Quite obviously because he should be in the Premier League if it's purely to do with levels.”

Take a look at the latest news and transfer stories from the Premier League, as the reaction to last weekend's action continues.

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.