Chris McCann hopes to be Burnley’s motivator

The modern dressing room appears to be a place of quiet contemplation before a game, rather than the tub-thumping, up-and-at’em atmosphere of yore.

But Clarets captain Chris McCann hopes to play the part of Mr Motivator.

After an impromptu heart to heart after the 2-0 defeat at Barnsley, the skipper feels the players need to inspire and bring out the best in each other.

Ahead of the trip to Coventry City, the Dubliner said: “You’re always motivated going to play a game, but we were a little bit flat on Tuesday.

“We had a little chat among the boys and agreed we need to buck up our ideas a bit - it’s no good just turning up to games and flicking a switch and out you go and play.

“You’re just focussed on playing the game in the dressing room, some people go bawling about and others want to be in their own zone with their music.

“Everyone prepares in different ways, but on the pitch, people think it’s quiet - that’s just the bunch we are, no-one’s a real screamer.

“It’s about self-motivation and if we can get that going, we will get our rewards.

“We are a close team, but you can’t pinpoint what’s going on at the moment.

“We need everyone firing, get back to the drawing board and try and rectify the mistakes.”

McCann admitted on his appointment in the summer that he wasn’t “a screamer and a shouter”, and was hoping to lead by example.

He feels there is a dearth of ranters and ravers in the game at present, but believes that can be countered: “Because we’re all so young, we are quiet - that’s only natural.

“There’s no real screamers or shouters, there’s no outspoken people, no-one’s really loud, but it’s rare you get screamers and shouters like you used to.

“We’re not like that, but it’s up to us to get the best out of each other.

“You don’t want to be the only one not motivated and let your teammates down, everyone has to pull in the right direction.

“It’s always a crisis when you lose two games, but two or three wins on the spin does a lot for confidence and morale, and we have to put the defeats to bed and start again.”

As captain, he feels more responsibility for any setbacks, and the cat would have been wise to get out of his way after the loss at Oakwell: “It hurts a lot more, it wasn’t easy to take on Tuesday, and all day Wednesday I was feeling down - you just don’t know what to do, where to go, everything seems to be coming down on top of you like a ton of bricks.

“It’s part and parcel of the job, but I’m strong enough to try to put that right.

“We have to look forward and try not to make the same mistakes.

“It wasn’t a great performance and I don’t think we did ourselves justice, we underperformed again, and the game at Coventry’s a big one now.

“We were all massively disappointed with the performance on Tuesday, but hopefully we can go into the game with a little bit more of a spring in our step and take the three points.

“It won’t be an easy game, but we need to start kicking on now and picking up points.”