Joe Worrall heaps praise on the Burnley defender who has 'massively' impressed him this season

Joe Worrall has heaped praise on a raft of his Burnley teammates and signalled out one who has ‘massively impressed’ him this season.

The 28-year-old centre back, an England Under-21 international, has been speaking about the way Burnley - and boss Scott Parker - approach their style of football and preparation and also some of the key players to stand out this campaign to date.

As it stands in the aftermath of Saturday’s 2-0 win at Swansea City, Parker’s side are sat in third place in the Championship table and lie just two points behind second placed Sheffield United and leaders Leeds United, who were held to a 2-2 draw by Queens Park Rangers at the weekend.

So, Parker, how does he do it? Worrall joked: “If I told you I'd have to kill you! You've got to ask him.

“You look at teams that have been together for years. Just look at the players who have played for Burnley over the years, James Tarkowski, Charlie Taylor, Nick Pope, Tom Heaton and all those boys from yesteryear that have been together consistently and worked together.

“It was no surprise that Burnley were a solid team and finished high in the Premier League on numerous occasions under Sean Dyche. “The way he approached the game, I never played under Dyche but I know enough about him and players who have worked under him to know what he's like.

“Here, it’s totally different. The way we approach the game is with the ball, it’s a lot more methodical and structured to probably how Dyche plays. “But at the same time, you can’t knock how - after coming in the summer and bringing in a lot of players, we’ve got a lot of young boys - he’s got the players on board.

“There’s been different pieces of the jigsaw. I started with Maxi [Maxime Esteve] at the start of the season, I come out injured and then CJ [Egan-Riley] goes in and, in my opinion, he’s probably been the best player in the league. “The likes of Joel Piroe and Borja Sainz and all these boys get the plaudits, but you watch CJ play and he’s been really, really good.

“Maxi is top as well, but CJ’s impressed me massively. He probably got knocked a little bit seeing me come in during the summer. He’s been out on loan and he will have wanted to be playing this year. But they sign me and John Egan and we’ve still got Hjalmar Ekdal and Jordan Beyer at the club, but the way CJ stepped into that starting XI and led us from the back, he’s just been a massive part of how we’re keeping all these clean sheets.

“I sound like I’m just crediting CJ, but all the boys have played their part. But CJ especially has really impressed me.”

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