Joe Worrall on Burnley's 'horrible' season, lack of game time and Forest return

The experienced defender openly admits it’s been a frustrating season this term, having made just five league starts.

So first and foremost, the 29-year-old is desperate to force his way back into Scott Parker’s first-team plans.

But a Nottingham Forest fan and a hometown boy that spent 13 years with the club, Worrall will have extra motivation on his return to the River Trent.

The centre-back sat down with the local media on Friday to preview this afternoon’s encounter, discussing his affiliation for the club, his lack of game time this season and his thoughts on Burnley’s struggles.

Here’s what he had to say:

You’ve not played at the City Ground since leaving Forest…

“No, that’s right. The first time I even went back was [Sean] Dyche’s first game in charge.

“We played Porto in the Europa League a few months ago. I mean, Forest have had three managers during that time, so it is hard to remember!

“But no, I went down pitchside and spoke to some of the staff and players and everyone. It was nice and strange at the same time.

“But yeah, I've got a lot of time for that club. But obviously, Sunday's going to be slightly different.”

What will your emotions be like?

“It’ll be great. I mean, it's not very often that players play for a club for so long and get the opportunity to go back, I guess.

“So yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I just really hope I get the opportunity to play. That's my main driver going there and I'm not really that bothered about getting a clap or seeing the fans.

“It's more I want to play. I want to feel the City Ground and how I did for many years and kind of live it again. That's what I want to do.”

It’s Forest’s fourth straight season in the Premier League, what could Burnley learn from them?

“You look at the money that they've spent on the team, it's as simple as that. There's not really any kind of rocket science to it.

“But also, one thing I will say when we were, and this is absolutely no…I don't mean this in any kind of way towards Forest fans or Burnley fans, you just get a real sense of when we got promoted to the Premier League with Forest, it was kind of like because of the geographical location of Nottingham and the fanbase is massive and they helped us hugely.

“The Burnley fans are great in their own right, but I feel like it's a lot more of a family, smaller club and we definitely benefited from having an extra 15,000 people in the stadium and the atmosphere was that much louder and it was a bit more, on a match day, it was a bit more buzzy.

“I love Turf Moor. I love the people of Burnley. I think the fans are great. But like when you go to Elland Road at Leeds, you just know when you walk in it's going to be nearing 40,000 people there.”

How were the emotions watching their Europa League win on Thursday night?

“It's never boring watching Forest, that's one thing I will say.

“It's difficult because it's a double-edged sword, you've got a European semi-final and then you try to stay in the Premier League.

“I’ve got a joke with one of my mates Ben, it’s like you could be playing in the Nou Camp next year and then at Sincil Bank and that’s just absolutely mental.

“Didn’t Wigan do something similar? Yeah, they won the FA Cup and were relegated in the same season and then played in Europe. You just think how mental that is.

“But no, I think for Forest a cup would be amazing but I think it wouldn't be as devastating as what a relegation would be. I think a relegation would just be horrendous on all levels.

“You think about how much money the owner has spent and the calibre of player they’ve got. I think it'll be a real disaster to be honest.”

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How frustrating has this season been for you?

“Very frustrating. I think a couple of injuries earlier on in the season which kept me out, not for long, it's just more we've got some players that the manager obviously fancies ahead of me and I think that's how my season's gone.

“It's been a strange one really for me. I've spoken to him and it's certainly one that I'll look back on as more of a learning curve than one I really enjoyed.

“But at the same time, football's football. I've been super lucky to have a lot of good seasons, I've had so many more good seasons than I've had bad ones.

“But no, at the end of the day, the manager's decision's final and I respect his decision and I've just got to try and get in his eye line and get a shirt.”

How have the squad managed to remain positive?

“You've got no option. If you're a good professional, if you're somebody who wants to win and you see further on than maybe the obstacle that's in front of us and you're probably a bit more open-minded, I think you've got no option but to be on time, train well, try your best.

“I think that culture has been here since the manager's come in and I think it needs to continue, because otherwise you're going to struggle to have any success going forward.

“Again, this season has been a blip in Burnley's history, I guess, because of the way the amount of points we've picked up and so on and so forth.

“But things going on behind the scenes at the training ground are very positive, the manager's still sticking to how he believes we should approach games and similar-ish to what we did last year.

“Maybe there’s been a lack of experience. Yes, lads have played at this level but they've been used to trying to push for titles and maybe not staying in the league. It's a completely different game. But yes, it's been horrible.

“It's tough. You just want to try and stay in the Premier League and push on and just see how high you can get as a player, that's our first thought. But if it's not to be, then we'll go again next year.”

Can you explain your viral video? [he was caught singing in a wedding dress at St Pancras station]

“It was AI!

“You know what's funny, right? So yeah, we're in St Pancras, we’ve been given a few days off and we're walking back from the pub and my mates nipped into a shop in St Pancras, we were just staying outside of it and one of my mates, he's a wizard on the piano.

“He’s playing Don’t Stop Me Now, we had all sorts. Honestly, all the Queen was out, we had everything going.

“Forest had just played Spurs and a few fans are there. I think one of them spotted me and then all of a sudden you've got 30 people around you singing. It was good fun. I mean, that's all I can say really.

“It's just a shame that everything has to be on video, isn't it? And it probably wasn’t even a Forest fan who did it. Some other punter stuck it on Facebook and it’s like: ‘that’s Joe’ and then it gets spread around and then you look like a fool in a wedding dress.

“But it went to the papers and I actually got quite a bit of a backlash from Turkish fans, having been at Besiktas before and spending a bit of time there. They were like: ‘what are you doing in a dress?’, that sort of thing.

“They don't understand the [stag do] tradition and the joke is you dress up as a bride sort of thing and don't get me wrong, I'm not one to slip on women's clothes, but nor am I one to say that's unacceptable. You do what you want to do.

“But yeah, my social media for a couple of days was just me getting peppered from Turkish nationals and that was interesting. But again, I think it was all more of a misunderstanding.”

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