‘It will come’: CJ Egan-Riley makes Burnley pledge following Leeds United stalemate

The Clarets played out their ninth 0-0 draw of the season on Monday with a dull stalemate against league leaders Leeds United.

Defensively Scott Parker’s side have performed remarkably, keeping 20 clean sheets and conceding just nine times in 29 outings – with Egan-Riley being at the very heart of it.

But questions continue to be raised about Burnley’s success at the other end of the pitch, where they’ve only scored 36 times, 17 fewer than the leaders Leeds.

“These are the games that are probably a bit more tactical, we probably knew coming into the game the way it would probably look and how we envisioned it,” Egan-Riley told Clarets+.

“Of course we still wanted to be on the front foot, create some chances and score some goals, which unfortunately we couldn’t manage, but we keep pushing forward.

“In our last game [against Plymouth Argyle] we scored five, so we know it’s there. We know we can do it. But these games, especially at home, we need to try and score more goals if we can. It will come.

“From where we were two or three month’s ago in terms of creating chances, we’ve already come a long way and there’s more to come for the rest of the season.”

While Burnley continue to earn plaudits for their defensive success, Egan-Riley is quick to point out it’s a collective effort and not about individuals.

“The way football is, people look at defenders and being able to play on the ball, do this and do that, but the first thing you need to do is defend and not let any goals in. At the moment, as a team, we’re doing that,” he said.

“I think people get caught up in the back four or me and Maxi [Maxime Esteve] and Traff [James Trafford] and think it’s just us, but it’s definitely not. It starts with the attack and the midfield that are pressing, winning second balls and being tactically strong. Everyone has their own roles that are contributing to these clean sheets. It’s a collective effort.”