Mike Jackson addresses Marcus Edwards' omission for Burnley v Aston Villa game
Mike Jackson insists his decision to omit Marcus Edwards for Burnley’s game against Aston Villa was nothing personal, it was simply a case of selection.
The winger was conspicuous by his absence on Sunday as he was dropped from Burnley’s match day squad for the 2-2 draw.
Loum Tchaouna continued his starting role on the right wing, while the likes of Jacob Bruun Larsen and Lyle Foster were preferred ahead of him on the bench.
“It's just a selection,” Jackson explained.
“What I'm going to try and do, and I had a good think about it, you have to try and be fair to the squad and how you rotate for the rest of this season in terms of the bench as well.
“So that's what I'm going to try and do. It's not easy, but it's nothing against Marcus, it's just what I thought we needed for this game.”
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While Burnley’s interim boss named an unchanged side in his first game in charge, the 3-1 defeat to Leeds United, he opted to make wholesale changes for the game against Villa.
There were six in total, starting in goal with Max Weiss making his Premier League debut in place of Martin Dubravka, while Axel Tuanzebe, Lucas Pires, Florentino Luis, Lesley Ugochukwu and Hannibal also came into the starting XI.
When asked to explain his reasoning behind the raft of changes, Jackson said: “One, you have a feeling. I've been in football a long time, you have a feeling that what you might need for this game and the freshness you might need.
“I think the players, obviously, who haven't been playing as regularly, who come into the team today, it gives them an opportunity to show what they can do and I think that's the way you've got to try and keep the squad going.
“I don't like leaving people out or telling people they're not playing, but we just needed to try and freshen things.”
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