Lee Miller on the Burnley game
Striker Lee Miller gave us his reaction to the Burnley friendly shortly after full time on Saturday.
“I think the scoreline flattered them a little bit even though they did play some good football,” he said. “We made a few mistakes early in the first half, which was disappointing, but that’s what pre-season games are for. You find things out and you can then work on them.”
“The good thing was that we responded and we were a much better side in the second half,” he added. “We restricted them to just a few chances and we created a few of our own. We have to be happy with that.
“They are a very good side and they are where we are striving to be. We matched them for long periods and all in all it was a very good workout for us.”
“Our Achilles heel last season was that we gave ourselves a mountain to climb in too many games and this has been a timely reminder of that,” he admitted. “As long as we are getting the mistakes out of the way now then it won’t matter too much.
“We were always going to come out and give a response after the break. They’re in the Championship for a reason and it was never going to be easy. We had positives to take from it, though, and we have to make sure we build on that.”
“I felt my overall performance was pretty good,” he said. “I held it up and won a few flicks, and I really enjoyed playing with Lewis Guy. Sometimes you get a little click like that with a player and it seems to have happened there. The gaffer has a few options up front now and that means we all have to fight for the place.”
“Missing the penalty is obviously going to be disappointing, as is scoring only to see an offside flag, but the important thing for me is that I’m getting in the positions,” he added. “David Amoo grew in confidence, we started to open them up a bit as the game went on and I think we linked up as a three really well.
“We had a lot of talkers out on the pitch and that’s a big thing for us. It doesn’t matter who wears the armband when it’s like that. If I get the nod to be captain then I’ll take it, but we have four or five lads who could do it easily. It’s not about me, it’s about the team.”
“I think we have to learn from this game but we also have to remember that we’re still very much in the depths of pre-season,” he told us. “There are fitness and sharpness issues we need to address, but that’s why we have these games. Match fitness is a totally different thing to general fitness and it’s about getting everyone ready to go.
“There’s a lot of optimism in the dressing room and this game hasn’t changed that. Hopefully we’ll take that into the first game of the season and it will be a good one for us.”
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