Vincent Kompany ‘really enjoyed’ Burnley’s ‘important’ win at Stoke

Vincent Kompany heaped praise on his Burnley side as they defeated Stoke 1-0 and entered 2023 top of the Sky Bet Championship table.

Josh Cullen’s strike after a comedy of Potters errors helped the visiting Clarets re-establish their three-point lead over Sheffield United.

Burnley move into the New Year on the back of five successive league victories – a feat they last achieved back in 2018.

The introduction of Jay Rodriguez and Anass Zaroury off the bench proved key for Kompany’s side as they rose to 14 points above third place.

“I really enjoy those wins – if you want to be successful, you have to win these games,” the Burnley boss said.

“We still have to prove that we’re a good team; it wasn’t our best performance on the ball, but defensively, it was a really good performance.

“We dealt with the long balls, and it wasn’t supposed to be an easy game so it’s a good win.

“We weren’t awesome on the ball, but we did everything we needed to do to stay solid and that was good.

“I have an idea of how I wanted for this game – some of the things didn’t go to plan, but if that’s the case, then these wins, I can really appreciate them.

“The whole team will go home knowing how important this win was.

“Having such a big squad has been valuable for us and it’s been a feature of our season.

“We had to decide between keeping our best players or monetising it and selling one to buy four. We did that because it allowed us to have a bigger squad.

“I’m learning that there are a lot of games in the Championship, so having those numbers was the most important decision we’ve made.”

An inconsistent Stoke, meanwhile, enter the New Year in 17th spot after a dismal return of seven wins from 23 home league games in 2022.

The full-time whistle was met with boos from the remaining home support as pressure mounts on Alex Neil after only six wins from 19 matches in charge.

The Potters boss said: “I’m disappointed because I didn’t think we deserved to lose.

“I feel for the players because I thought they worked so hard, we were brave and went toe-to-toe with the best team in the league.

“We limited them to a free-kick from 40 yards and a scrummage, so to lose in that manner is frustrating because I thought we did a lot of things well.

“Our shape was excellent and the breaks that came along were in our favour, and we had the better of them.

“I thought it was a really tight, cagey match and we deserved to get something from the game.

“The goal we conceded is frustrating to say the least. I don’t think it’s that hard to fix – hit the ball and don’t hit it off your goalkeeper.

“Their goal wasn’t created by them; it was created by us. The problem I’ve got is, for the other 93 minutes, we do it really well.

“I don’t like losing games, and we’ve got a habit of turning games we should get something from into a loss.

“We’re doing a lot of things right, but those fine and key moments in the game, we’re landing on the wrong side of them at the moment.”