Phill's Diary: Burnley (h) - 3rd October 2023

Phill opens up his diary ahead of Luton Town welcoming Burnley to Kenilworth Road

So it's a quick turnaround for Town this Tuesday night as they fulfil the fixture originally pencilled in for the 19th August. We head into the game with 4 hard earned points so far, with our opponents sitting in 19th place with a solitary point gained away to Forest in mid-September.

We are familiar with our opponents as a club, but they will look significantly different from their last visit to Kenilworth Road where they snuck a 1-0 victory courtesy of an Ashley Barnes penalty, on their way to the Championship title. Since then Burnley have seen big changes, with key players moving on or returning to their parent clubs; players such as Ian Maatsen and Nathan Tella.

Burnley have invested over the summer with the likes of Zeki Amdouni, a player with 5 goals in 7 games for the Swiss national side. Another player who has been very impressive so far is Luca Koleosho. I prefer the Gabe variety of Osho personally, but nevertheless, Koleosho has shown trumendous pace and dribbling ability in his appearances so far and will prove a tough test for Luton's right hand side. Hopefully our defence will be able to call upon the height and general brilliance of Reece Burke following his early departure from the field against Everton this weekend, to combat the height of Sander Berge. Berge arrived at Turf Moor this summer for a fee of around £12m, departing fellow promoted side Sheffield United.

Whatever team Burnley play, it'll likely be a battle of styles, but Super Robbie Edwards will undoubtedly have a plan. I was so interested to hear Andy Burgess share his experiences of Goodison Park on the X Space after Saturdays game, highlighting just how informed and focussed his touchline instructions were. We've got a real gem in Rob and I hope this rapid turnaround between important games isn't hindered by injury or fatigue. It's also going to be a tight turnaround for the weekend ahead, as we take the early Saturday kick off spot when we host Spurs. A tough and important week indeed, but it's what we all craved, and let's face it, if we were in the Championship this season we'd have already been far deeper into our season. This rearranged fixture was a necessity to get the ground up to spec after all.

If we can repeat our efforts and finishing of Everton away, and the playing style of Wolves at home, I think we'll be set for another positive result. The line up will surely be dictated by the fitness of the starting XI from the past couple of games, but we can be confident that those called upon if needed will step up if necessary, I'm looking at you Teden Mengi and Mads Andersen. I just hope the likes of Elijah Adebayo can show real desire and fight such as what we saw from his defensive team mates this weekend, if called upon.

Above all else we must approach the game with confidence and professionalism. It's a great opportunity to add to the tally at home, under the lights against a team we'll be directly competing with for a position above that dotted line come gameweek 38. It's an early 6 pointer, so let's help the lads and be loud from all four corners of the ground and get us up to 7 points from 7 games. Fingers crossed. See you there, Phill