‘Not even comparable’ – Scott Parker makes Burnley claim ahead of Sunderland clash

Burnley manager Scott Parker has stated that his team is in a “much better place” than when they last faced Sunderland in the Championship.

The Clarets will face the Black Cats at Turf Moor on Friday evening, hoping to avenge their 1-0 setback at the Stadium of Light in August, which occurred during a period of tremendous upheaval for Parker and his players.
Since then, Burnley has established themselves as serious promotion challengers, conceding only nine goals in 26 league games this season. They are also two points ahead of Sunderland in the table going into this weekend’s match. Taking all of this into account, Parker is confident that his club will provide a much better prospect to Regis Le Bris’ guests when they meet again.

In a news conference, he stated, “It’s not even comparable to where we are now as a team and a group compared to then. We were at the height of things, as I already stated, which was quite unprecedented at the time. Things that perhaps weren’t out in the open, but we were definitely in a state in that fixture.

“Where we’ve come from is incomparable to where we are today. A difficult game on Friday night, like it was before, but I believe we’re in a better position. Certainly, psychologically as a group, we’re in a much better place, and fundamentally, in terms of where we’ve come from and how we’ve evolved along the way.”

Parker also praised Sunderland for their successes this season, but was keen to point out that Burnley will be well-positioned to contain the Black Cats’ considerable attacking threat at home.
He continued, “They’re a really talented side. I believe they’ve shown this throughout the season. The team is extremely well-coached and has performed admirably. They have individuals and pace on their squad that we must be mindful of, and we will be.We encounter similar teams and qualities, which we’ve handled with fairly well. As always, we will approach this game with the goal of being as dominant as possible, taking everything we can from it and nullifying them to the greatest extent possible.”