Burnley\u2019s manager Vincent Kompany believes the week of \u201cadversity\u201d they endured will stand his side in good stead when the Premier League season kicks off soon.<\/p>\n
The Clarets \u2013 now back in the UK after having endured three challenging games in the space of just seven days on the continent \u2013 had begun their pre-season run of games with a 2-0 defeat to a KRC Genk side whose season has already begun with a Champions League\u00a0qualifier.<\/p>\n
Kompany\u2019s side then beat Portuguese\u00a0champions Benfica 2-0 after that, before wrangling a feisty 1-1 draw with Spanish side Real Betis.<\/p>\n
Kompany reflected on their busy week for his men as he told the club\u2019s official website: \u201cWe put ourselves in the situation where we wanted to have a little bit of adversity. I think we played against tough opponents.<\/p>\n
“Top six in Spain [Betis], best team in Portugal and quarter finalists of the Champions League [Benfica], add to that the heat, integrating new players and traveling.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to put ourselves in a situation where we would build up resilience. I think we got exactly that out of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll things considered we have to be ready for the first game of the season and we\u2019re still on that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burnley are now left with only 11 days to go before making their return to the Premier League\u00a0with the possibly the toughest challenge looming ahead, their oncoming opener against reigning champions Manchester City.<\/p>\n
And just prior to that, the Clarets have one last remaining friendly match left to engage on Saturday when they are up against Bundesliga side Mainz in Germany, where they\u2019ll be intent on building further on their promising display against Betis on Friday in Huelva with both sides finishing the game with 10 men.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe result could have gone our way but we saw some good things,\u201d Kompany said on the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cTechnically this game was difficult because of the state of the pitch, but that was the case for both teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was unfortunate with the sending off of both players. But you\u2019re looking for the effort, you\u2019re looking for a good defensive performance and on top of that, players who are still willing to attack and I think it was there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"