Winger aims to earn starting berth

Johann Berg Gudmundsson has a shot against West Ham last weekend

The Icelandic international certainly put himself in to boss Sean Dyche’s thinking after capping an impressive second half display against West Ham United with the assist for Chris Wood’s late equaliser at Turf Moor.

The 26-year-old, who scored twice for his nation in the final group games during the World Cup qualifiers, last started a Premier League fixture against Liverpool at Anfield last month, where he was replaced by Ashley Barnes on the hour.

However, Gudmundsson has been keeping his head down in training and working hard in a bid to climb back into the starting XI.

After booking his country’s place at Russia 2018, Gudmundsson is brimming with confidence. “I dreamed of qualifying for a World Cup and it’s the biggest achievement of my career,” he said. “It’s been unbelievable.

“I’ve done really well with Iceland, scored two goals, so I’m in good nick. Hopefully I can take that to the Premier League. I want to contribute in any way I can, either with goals or assisting the team. Hopefully I can help the team and do a bit better.

“I want to start from the beginning, that’s what every footballer wants, but obviously if you’re on the bench and you come on, you’ve got to show that you should be starting from the first minute. I think I’ve done that.

“It’s all about working every day in training because it’s a tough team to get in. There’s great competition so it’s about training well and playing well when you get the chance.”

The Clarets are unbeaten on their travels in all competitions this season, but they arguably face their biggest challenge of the campaign tomorrow when they take on a City side that have scored 17 goals in their last three home league games.

Gudmundsson said: “They are in great form and it’s going to be a tough game but we’ve shown that we can do well against the big boys.

“It’s a game where we’ve got nothing to lose.

“We’ve got some great results which started with Chelsea, it gave us a massive boost to go to the champions and beat a fantastic team.

“It gave us a massive confidence boost.

“Last season it was a long way into the season when we won our first away game, but this was massive.

“It showed we can do it with the big boys.”