Mike Jackson on the ‘opportunity’ for Burnley against Arsenal

Mike Jackson on the ‘opportunity’ for Burnley against Arsenal

Burnley interim manager Mike Jackson says he feels there is an “opportunity” for Burnley to surprise people against Arsenal on Monday.

Burnley are 19th in the table and have only won four Premier League games this season, but they did end a run of five straight defeats with a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa last week.

On the test of facing league leaders Arsenal, Jackson said: “I think, obviously, you look at a game like that and you look at the importance it has to everyone in the competition, we know what we’re talking about.

“But I think from our point of view, you’ve got to look at it as an opportunity as well to be involved in a game like that. And to be really excited about that. And it’s a platform to then go and perform. We can’t influence everything that’s going on around it and all the noise about these games coming up.

“But what we can do is make sure, like we did against Aston Villa, we proved last week that we were still taking the competition really seriously and that’s what we’ll do.”

Jackson is not the full-time manager and no one has been announced as the manager for next season, but Jackson ruled himself out of the running.

Asked if he wanted the job, he said: “No. For me, when I’m outside on the grass, when I’m working with the players, that’s when I’m happy.

“It’s a privilege to be given this opportunity to actually try and help the club, help the players and that’s what I’ll do.

“Honestly, I had one conversation with the chairman after what happened with Scott (Parker). Since then, I haven’t had any communication regarding all that. That’s gone on in the background.”