‘I HAVE FULL TRUST IN THE PLAYERS’ SAYS KOMPANY

Clarets manager talks Seagulls test

Manager Vincent Kompany is expecting a tough afternoon against what he describes as an impressive Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.

The Clarets boss will be absent from the touchline on the afternoon as he carries out a ban issued by The FA earlier today. Whilst he describes this as unfortunate for this weekend, he says he has full trust in the players and their ability to rise up to the challenge.

“It’s fair enough. I said it before, I totally acknowledged that what I said in the moment did not reflect what I thought about the official.

“In terms of questioning the integrity of someone, I think that’s too harsh and it’s not what I meant, so fair enough.

“The two are separate issues though, I can complain about the level of refereeing, and I think that’s a fair complaint. But in the moment the emotions got the best of me, so it’s fair.

“It’s unfortunate as well, because I want to be there for the team and in that sense, it’s something that will probably annoy me on the day.”

Just how challenging will the manager find not being on the touchline against Brighton on Saturday?

“It’s not pleasant, but I have full trust in the staff I have with me. I have full trust in the players and their ability to rise up to the challenge.

“Ultimately on matchday the most important people are the players and that’s what we need to reflect on the day.”

When asked about recent performances, Kompany says he has seen lots of positives despite not always securing three points come the final whistle. How much does he believe this has cost them?

“I think the whole season, when you’re down to where we are, the whole season has an impact. Anything that has happened in the season. It’s been fine margins so many times as well.

“I don’t think we’re the only club by the way, when I look at the other teams around us whether it’s Sheffield United, whether it’s Luton or whether it’s others, the amount of times they’re in games and the game is so close, but the difference is the ball lands inside the post a couple of times and sometimes it’s outside the post.

“It’s been the type of season where in the beginning, and I’m talking very early doors, we found it difficult to adapt quickly but for a while now we’ve been in every game.

“But when you ask about frustration, it’s been after a game when you feel like we could have done more.

“At times, and that was my frustration with my overreaction with the officials, there’s been times where it’s been our own fault and our own mistakes and sometimes it’s not been our fault, which is unfortunate.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s opponents, the Seagulls are currently 10th in the table. So, what is Kompany expecting from Roberto De Zerbi’s side?

“They’re a unique opposition in the sense that despite not necessarily being classed as one of the top six teams in this league, they’ve managed to establish themselves with all the habits of the top teams.

“They force opposition teams to adapt and for a team like Brighton to demand that from even the bigger teams, that’s really exceptional.

“That means it doesn’t matter whether the top six teams play against them, they have to adapt their game to play against Brighton and that’s a pretty special situation to be in.

“I give an example for us, when we were the best team in the Championship last year everyone had to adapt to play us. But in the Premier League none of the other teams wanted to do that because they won’t accept it, because they expect to have the better players.

“It took them a while to do that, I’m not saying it happened overnight, but within the space of five or six years they’ve managed to demand this and that’s pretty impressive.”

With six games to go, how much is the manager going to be calling on the experienced players within the group?

“The key thing is these guys still have the athleticism. Charlie [Taylor] is still a very good athlete.

“The way the league has developed now, even to my time you can have all the experience you want but if you go and stand on that pitch and you can’t run, good luck. It’s just impossible.

“It’s like the entry fee you have to pay for this league nowadays. Everything else won’t matter if you’re not able to do that.

“That level of experience mixed with the reality of the Premier League, you can either grow it within your club or go and buy it, but it’s really expensive and it’s really difficult to do that.”