Burnley fell to a 2-0 defeat against Genk in a pre-season friendly on Saturday night.
Burnley faced Belgian side Genk at the Cegeka Arena last night, as goals for Yira Sor and Arokodare Tolu proved too much for the Clarets to respond to. For Vincent Kompany, though, the final score will have been of little importance.
The former centre-back used this opportunity to get minutes into the legs of many of his players. New signing James Trafford started the game in goal, whilst fellow new arrivals Dara O’Shea and Zeki Amdouni were amongst the substitutes.
Amdouni did make it on to the pitch, as did Andros Townsend. The 32-year-old is currently a free agent, having left Everton at the end of last season, and is presently on trial at Turf Moor. The winger looked sharp and may well have made a good impression in Kompany’s mind with this outing. The 13-cap former England international has 264 Premier League appearances to his name and would be an experienced addition to the Burnley squad if he can earn a contract this summer.
Vincent Kompany’s verdict
After the match, Kompany gave his verdict on the performance, saying, “it was a good one for fitness and in the end we didn’t play too bad, especially in the start…for us it’s still about integrating the new players and a lot of work on the training ground…a lot of the lads got 90 minutes, which was the first for most of them and that’s what we wanted,” as quoted by Burnley Express.
There is still plenty of work to do in pre-season for Burnley, as Kompany prepares them for their return to the Premier League. This match will have been good for the squad’s fitness, and Townsend will have been grateful for the chance to show his quality.