“For us as a group, the expectation for us is to go straight back up, We know what we’ve done wrong, we know how we need to improve”- Burnley man throws down early promotion gauntlet as he finally speaks out on club’s relegation

Managerless Burnley are already one of the favourites to win promotion from the Championship next season

Nothing less than promotion will do for Burnley next season and that’s something defender Dara O’Shea has made no bones about. After spending just one year in the Premier League, the Clarets find themselves gearing up for a return to the Championship this summer.

It’s a league a chunk of the Burnley squad know well having claimed the second tier title under Vincent Kompany during the 2022-23 campaign, reaching an impressive points total of 101. As such, there is confidence at Turf Moor that the Lancashire outfit can repeat the feat and that’s a notion the bookies seem to agree upon, with most outlets naming them as second favourites for promotion, behind Leeds United.

There is a snag, though, and it comes in the dugout with Burnley without a permanent manager following Kompany’s decision to join Bayern Munich. Craig Bellamy currently holds the reins on an interim basis while the club continue their search for the right man, with the likes of Scott Parker, Liam Rosenior and Frank Lampard all supposedly being considered.

Whoever fills the Burnley hot seat will be tasked with taking the club back to the top flight, though and that’s a challenge the players are more than ready to take on.

“For us as a group, the expectation for us is to go straight back up,” O’Shea, who joined Burnley from West Bromwich Albion in the months that followed their last Championship promotion, told Clarets+. “I don’t think we need to look at the past, we need to look at the present and the future and what we can grow into as a team.

“We feel we can go into next season full of confidence and also understand and respect it’s a tough, tough division. We know it’s not always going to be easy like we’ve had it previously, so we’ve got to show our character and come out the right side of it.”

He added: “Straight away we knew our fate after the Spurs game, the gaffer’s message was to focus on next season and that’s what everyone took on board. We’re just looking forward to next season now. It’s the end of our Premier League campaign but it gives us great hopes and expectation to get back into the division.

“We’ve learned a hell of a lot this season, so there is real confidence in the group. We know what we’ve done wrong, we know how we need to improve so that’s so valuable as a group to have these life lessons.”

Kompany isn’t expected to be the only man to leave Turf Moor this summer with relegation being followed by speculation that a number of players could leave the club. James Trafford is the man who appears closest to an exit with reports claiming that the goalkeeper, who was involved in England’s provisional squad for Euro 2024 before being cut, has agreed terms with Newcastle United.

Nevertheless, the Clarets are expected to push Leeds all the way for the Championship title next season, with Luton Town, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and Norwich City among the others who feature at the top end of the bookmakers’ odds lists.