Neil Warnock optimistic despite Huddersfield’s heavy defeat at leaders Burnley

Posted Sunday, February 26, 2023 by PA

Neil Warnock remains optimistic about Huddersfield’s survival chances because they have not lost ground on the teams above them despite a 4-0 defeat at Sky Bet Championship leaders Burnley.

Warnock’s side remain four points adrift of safety after the defeat, as their hosts extended their unbeaten league run to 14 matches.

Ashley Barnes scored Burnley’s opener while Connor Roberts and Josh Brownhill added goals before half-time, with substitute Michael Obafemi scoring a fourth in the second half.

Warnock said: “I learned more about my team today than I did last week. We’ve got 13 games left, which are winnable. We haven’t got another Burnley, thank God.

“To come off at the end of the game and the league table’s not changed, I think that’s a plus, having got Burnley out of the way. We could have been eight points adrift, or something like that. In the final 13 games, we haven’t got another Burnley. So I’m quite optimistic now.”

Warnock, who lost defender Josh Ruffels to a bug on Saturday morning, praised his team’s character in the second half.

He said: “At half-time, they could easily have gone under. I said at half-time, look, we’ve got a great bunch of fans today, they’re all disappointed like you are, but we can’t be getting beaten five or six, we’ve got to stick at our tasks and show a bit of guts, and I thought we did.”

Warnock had suggested before the game that Burnley were the best Championship side he had seen in 25 years.

He said: “We gave them two early goals. I don’t think Vincent Kompany gets enough credit for what they’ve done. He brought a lot of players in and changed the style.

“What I like about Burnley is that they know if they’ve got to battle, they’ve got to battle. That team could easily play in the Premier League now. It’s very exciting for Burnley.”

Burnley manager Kompany was pleased with the way his players responded after being held to a 1-1 draw at Millwall on Tuesday.

He said: “It was solid on all fronts. Look back on the game and we’re sending 20,000 fans home happy and allowing people in Burnley to have a good Sunday.

“If you even go through the home games we’ve had this season, we’ve had many good performances. We created chances, we didn’t score every one, so it can always be better.

“But we were threatening, and it links well with the fact we had a good performance in midweek at Millwall, where I think we had 19 shots and then today we had 22 shots. It links to the idea that if you keep creating chances, you do get the reward.

“I have a feeling of job not done yet for us. We are still number 21 in English football, and we have to get better.”