Burnley v Wolves preview: We must earn our European adventure, insists Bruno Lage

Travelling to Turf Moor tomorrow, Wolves are preparing for one final push in the race for the top seven and a return to Europe.

Burnley, however, have picked up four points from their last two games since they sacked manager Sean Dyche, after a 2-0 win over Southampton on Thursday night that handed them a major boost in their quest to stay up.

With Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool still to play, Wolves’ hopes of making the top seven may rest on tomorrow’s game and Lage is rallying his troops for a decisive clash.

“It’s an important game because there’s six games to go and we cannot expect that West Ham or Arsenal will lose their games,” Lage said.

“We need to do our role. We are eighth and with the position in front of us we cannot miss too many chances.

“It’s an important game to fight for our goals and we will play a team that is also fighting for their goals. I think it will be a good game because both teams are fighting for goals and we need to go there with a big ambition.

“I’m confident because it was this team that broke the record of nine away wins in the Premier League.

“The team, with or without him (Dyche) is a hard team to play against.

“Remember what happened in the first game, we played well and it was 0-0. They are solid, compact and everyone is running for survival.

“I saw what they did against Chelsea, Tottenham and Southampton – it’s a hard place to play and Wolves haven’t won there since 2010.

“We go there with our own goals. We have six games to go, lets go and fight to put the club in European football.”

Results elsewhere in the last two weeks have handed Wolves a lifeline following their disappointing loss to Newcastle.

A running theme this season, however, has seen Wolves miss opportunities to make up ground and overtake their top seven rivals.

For the first time Lage has admitted his side missed a chance to make a charge for the Champions League this season, as he challenges them to make up for it with a final push for Europe.

“At the moment no-one is winning and taking the places that give European football,” Lage added.

“The league will finish in one month, we have six games and 18 points in front of us, so lets go for it.

“I started the week talking to the boys and looking at the table. I am very competitive and arrived here to challenge myself and the players and I think we missed a big chance to fight for fourth place this season.

“You never know in the next years if you’ll have that big opportunity and now we have 18 points in front of us to fight for a position that gives us the right to play European football at Molineux.”

Opposition view

Burnley caretaker manager Mike Jackson admitted he did not know if he would be taking charge of tomorrow’s match against Wolves after guiding the Clarets to a crucial 2-0 win over Southampton on Thursday night.

First-half goals from defenders Connor Roberts and Nathan Collins lifted Burnley to within a point of 17th-placed Everton, albeit having played a game more, and Sunday’s match gives the Clarets a chance to climb out of the bottom three, even if only for a couple of hours before the Toffees face Liverpool.

Jackson and an interim coaching staff that includes injured captain Ben Mee have taken four points from two games since the surprise sacking of Sean Dyche last Friday, but continue to work day-to-day as chairman Alan Pace seeks a permanent successor.

“I haven’t spoken to the chairman, I’ve been speaking to you guys for the last half-an-hour and I’ve not had chance to speak to anyone,” Jackson said.

“The chairman the other day asked us to prepare for the (Southampton) game and if the chairman asks us again to prepare for Sunday, that’s where we’re at.

“There’s no meeting planned. We’re in tomorrow for a recovery day and a work day for the lads who didn’t play. If the chairman asks us again for the game on Sunday we’ll do that. We’ve thought ahead on that. We’re just happy to be helping the club and helping the players perform.”

Right-back Roberts, who took his first Burnley goal in style as he cut onto his left and curled a shot beyond Fraser Forster with 12 minutes gone, said after the match the players were feeling more freedom under Jackson, but the club’s under-23s coach insisted he had not changed much.

“I hear it all the time if a manager leaves, people say you’ve done this and done that. I don’t think it’s that,” he said.

“I think the players, and the group, have just remembered who they are, what they’re good at and what they’re capable of. I think it’s just as simple as that.

“We’re here to guide them, the staff have all mucked in, everyone has played their part. For me, I don’t buy into this magic wand thing. I’m not reinventing the wheel here. We have a group of guys who have come together and who are fighting.”

There was nothing radically different about Burnley’s approach on Thursday, but roared on by Turf Moor they looked fired up, and Roberts’ early goal was the first of several chances, with Southampton goalkeeper Forster keeping the score down before Collins headed in a second before half-time.

“I think it comes from confidence,” Jackson said of Burnley’s verve. “There’s confidence from the West Ham game (a 1-1 draw on Sunday). All of a sudden you start feeling better about yourself. There hasn’t been massive changes. They’ve just remembered who they are.”