'A real coup': The Southampton loanee who is impressing for Burnley and what Sunderland can expect

The Clarets sit third in the Championship table ahead of their trip to Wearside and were held to a 1-1 draw at Birmingham in midweek.

To find out more we caught up with Dan Black from our sister title the Burnley Express on the latest episode of The Roar Podcast

You can listen to the full episode here

How would you assess Burnley’s start to the season?

DB: “It’s not been a bad start by any stretch of the imagination.

“As you can well imagine when you have 16 new faces coming through the door in the summer and you lose 13 players, including some key personnel, it was going to start a little bit disjointed and take a while for the players to gel.

“I think that’s still the case and I still think there is much more to come from Burnley.

“I don’t think Vincent Kompany has settled on his best side yet and has still got players on the sidelines with injuries who I think will come in and make a big contribution this season.

“All in all I think we have to be happy with the way things have started, one defeat in 15 games. They have drawn too many games, conceded late on in some fixtures but they are heading in the right direction.”

How has Kompany’s appointment been viewed?

DB: “I think he’s managed it impeccably well.

“For so much upturn and so much change I think some fans were almost expecting a season of transition to kind of smooth everything out and steady the ship.

“I think they have probably done better than a lot of fans expected and probably done better than Vincent Kompany expected.

“It’s a new management, brings new philosophies, a new culture, a new system and a new style of play, then you have to get those players to buy into all that as well.

“He’s managed it exceptionally well and they are growing week on week. It’s not all going to fall into place straight away but you can see signs that there is going to be an exciting period ahead where everything just clicks into place, as it did in the Swansea game which they won 4-0.

“They haven’t hit those strides consistently yet.”

Who are Burnley’s key players?

DB: “For me I think Nathan Tella is head and shoulders above this level.

“I think he’s an absolutely fantastic player and has many attributes that would suit him well in the Premier League. He’s been a real coup for Burnley this season in the Championship and he’s made a number of top-flight appearances for Southampton.

“We’ve not seen a massive amount of Anass Zaroury but he’s a prospect that people are really looking forward to seeing. He’s made a few cameos and started the last three.

“Jay Rodriguez is back in the Championship and his experience has been vital for Burnley this season. He’s getting into good goalscoring positions and is also a very unselfish player. He defends well from the front which is what Burnley need with that energy.”

What’s your predicted line-up?

DB: “(4-2-3-1) Muric; Roberts, Harwood-Bellis, Taylor, Vitinho; Cullen, Cork; Tella, Brownhill, Zaroury; Rodriguez.”