Former Burnley man Jeff Hendrick believes Scott Parker is the right man to guide the club back to the Premier League should they suffer relegation this season.

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The Clarets face an uphill battle during the final 12 games of the season, as they currently sit nine points adrift of safety.

Parker’s side head to Chelsea this weekend looking to build on last week’s comeback victory at Crystal Palace, which was their first three points since October.

They failed to back that up with another win in the FA Cup though, finding themselves on the wrong end of an upset at the hands of League One Mansfield Town.

That only piled the pressure back on Parker, who has been the subject of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” chants on more than one occasion in recent weeks.

Hendrick, however, believes that Parker is the ideal man to get Burnley promoted again should they go down – seeing as he already has three Championship promotions to his name.

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The pressure piled back on Parker following Burnley's cup defeat to Mansfield (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

placeholder image — The pressure piled back on Parker following Burnley's cup defeat to Mansfield (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

“When I was at Burnley, they were the club who stayed in the Premier League and had many good years under Sean Dyche. But since then, they’ve had Vincent Kompany and Scott Parker where they’ve yo-yoed a little bit,” he told Fruity King.

“Don’t get me wrong, that’s probably good for the club financially. But I don’t see them getting rid of Scott. Who do you attract as a manager, and who would do better than him, knowing the group? He’s brought the players in.

“Maybe in the back of their mind, they’re thinking: ‘okay, he’s given it a good go, it hasn't worked out, the Premier League is getting harder and harder’.

“But it’s not easy when you get relegated to offload so many players. So, potentially, they could be going back to the Championship with a strong squad for that league. And who better than Scott to stay there and steer them back up into the Premier League?

“I think they might have the mindset that: ‘right, he’s got us promoted already, he’s had a good go, he can do it again’ and I do like Scott when he comes out and talks. Like I’ve said about Eddie Howe, he talks the truth and he says what’s on his mind and doesn’t hold back.

“It is nice to hear managers doing that and I’m sure behind the scenes, he’s talking honestly as well. He knows they’re in a difficult situation and that pretty much they’re going to be going down. They’re probably just waiting for it to be confirmed.

“But I think he is the guy who can go down with the club and bring them back up.”

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