Vincent Kompany on Newcastle United test, Eddie Howe and wanting Burnley players to produce 'special' moment

The Clarets host Newcastle United this afternoon looking to pick what would be a priceless three points in their bid to avoid the drop.

Following a run of just one defeat in eight, Kompany’s men find themselves two points adrift of safety with only three games left to play.

As we enter the business end of the season, Kompany has told his players this is the time to etch themselves into the club’s history.

“I want every player in the team to believe, individually, they can have a moment,” he said.

“There are 3x 90 minutes to play and every minute offers an opportunity to have a moment to remain in the club’s history.

“It’s so rare in life that you get opportunities to have a significant moment like this, but these guys will have the opportunity in the next three games.

“It starts with that belief in yourself that this could be your moment. We need that to be spread across the group because we’ve got three games to cover.”

The problem for Burnley is they face a Newcastle side that sit seventh and remain in contention for European qualification.

Eddie Howe’s side, like Burnley, are also in good form, winning three of their last four.

While Kompany acknowledges the challenge is a far from easy one, he believes his side is capable of pulling off something special.

He added: “The problem is they don’t have a lot of weaknesses and they have a lot of strengths. But it’s a game at Turf Moor, anything is possible.

“I remember we played them in pre-season before we started the Championship before we went to Huddersfield, we played against Newcastle and they beat us 7-0 or something.

“If you ask me if I was already aware what the Premier League would be, well in the first pre-season I had in the back of my mind I had that experience. We weren’t ready to play against these teams, but we were perfectly fine to play against Championship teams.

“Newcastle were the first view of what a Premier League team looked like for us. Athleticism, speed, players who are experienced but also tactically versatile, technically capable and have a goal threat in many, many ways, whether it’s set plays, whether it’s press in behind, whether it’s pressing, counter-pressing and that’s been the Premier League for us the whole year.

“Our players have improved though and we can look forward to having another go at the challenge. Can we close the gap? That’s always the job we have.”

Kompany will come up against a manager in Eddie Howe that has already occupied his hotseat in the Burnley dugout.

The Belgian has nothing but respect for what the former Bournemouth boss has done during his three years in the North East.

“He’s been in this position for many years. Everything he achieved with Bournemouth will already command the respect of his peers, that’s for sure,” he said.

“When you go and take a job like Newcastle, it shows when you make the step he’s obviously done something to this place, reaching the Champions League, but also the way they play. It’s very representative of what you would associate with Newcastle.

“He’s a good coach. He was already really talented when he was with Bournemouth and he’s been able to show even more with a better team.”