Burnley Football Club press conference: manager Scott Parker looks ahead to Bristol City clash
Burnley manager Scott Parker championed the virtues of “stability” in his first press conference back since the international break.
Parker was speaking ahead of the Clarets return to action this Saturday when they travel to Ashton Gate for a lunchtime kick-off against Bristol City.
And with his squad experiencing a number of incomings and outgoings even since the start of the season, as well as any club’s usual battle with injuries, Parker was keen to stress the importance of stability.
When asked how he would balance that stability, on a micro level, in terms of the need for rotation and keeping a settled team during the busy winter schedule he said: “It will be key. In this divison games come thick and fast. There will opportunities to freshen things up and keep everyone in and around it to make us as competitive as we can.
“The last few games we’ve come out the wrong end of the fixture list because we’ve had Thursday games rolling into a Sunday. The squad’s going to be vitally important for us leading into this and the remainder of the season.”
Pressed on whether there would be player ins and outs in the forthcoming January transfer window, Parker would not be drawn and said his focus was on the players currently at the club adding: “Not really at this present moment in time. Our main focus is the players that are here.
“We’ve got to keep working hard, there’s loads of areas we need to keep working on. At this moment January is way in the future.
“Our main focus is to be relentless in our pursuit and in how we need to improve as individuals and as a team.”
The Clarets could face another obstacle in Bristol on Saturday with gusty winds expected but Parker said it was not something he was concerned about.
He added: “(Weather) doesn’t really influence how we approach a game. Maybe only start looking at it on the day of the game, but even then not so much, the conditions are the conditions.”
And finally on the East Lancashire weather, the proud Londoner said he was finding it a bit chilly recently but was enjoying the warmth of the local people and living here with his family.