soccer

Parker on Ward-Prowse start, squad rotation and Mansfield

Burnley boss Scott Parker has been speaking to the media before Saturday's FA Cup game against Mansfield Town at Turf Moor (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

  • January signing James Ward-Prowse, who featured as a substitute in the victory over Crystal Palace on Wednesday, will start the match on Saturday.
  • On the 31-year-old's debut, Parker said: "I was really pleased he came on the other night, and I thought the time and the dynamics of the game when he came on, you could see the experience. So it's another opportunity for him to get minutes because he hasn't played a lot of football."
  • On team morale since the win at Selhurst Park: "It's been good, coming off the back of an important win for us that we've been searching for for a long time - it's lifted the mood. It's been a quick turnaround and our main focus has moved onto the game at the weekend. But generally upbeat and first and foremost, pleased for the players."
  • He added: "There's no denying that it's been a tough period and certainly our mood has always been pretty upbeat, it's never really been too drastic but there's been a little bit of frustration at times and a little hurt. Football clubs are often at their best when they come off the back of a good result."
  • Josh Laurent played in multiple positions against Palace and Parker said his versatility is "invaluable" because he is able to play him in any role and the 30-year-old will always perform for him.
  • On how his side will approach the FA Cup as they try to avoid relegation from the Premier League: "The next game is our next focus. Our performance in the last round was very, very good and that gave us momentum. We're looking forward to this game and it give the players an opportunity as well. This is a game we're going to approach and competition I hold real value in. We're going to go in there and put in a good performance and hopefully we can get through to the next round."
  • On squad rotation: "There's balance to it and that definitely is the case that we'll make some changes here to freshen things up and give players who've maybe not had a lot of football to give them football to keep them up to speed. We're going with a real full squad but we'll try and get a real balance for it."
  • Parker and Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough faced each other in a 1-1 draw in 2016; when Parker was playing for Fulham and Clough managed Burton Albion in the Championship. On the tie with Mansfield, Parker said: "It's a competition of which we will all hold fond memories of. It's a competition which can give us a real lift. It's a really tough game for us, we know what Nigel's teams are like. We need to bring our quality as well as understanding of what to expect."

Follow all of Friday's FA Cup news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Read full story at Yahoo Sport →