Caldwell: Burnley have got Sunderland spirit

11:10am Friday 8th August 2008

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FOR captain Steven Caldwell, the correlations between the Sunderland side he won promotion to the Premier League with in 2005 and the current Burnley crop are too stark to ignore.

A pre-season tour of America, a strong team spirit and a healthy mix of youth and experience are, he says, perfect matches.

The 27-year-old is not so bold as to proclaim the Clarets can replicate the Black Cats’ achievements of winning a division that is getting stronger with every passing season courtesy, in part, to the influx of former top-flight teams for whom relegation is tempered by multi-million pound parachute payments.

But should Owen Coyle’s men mount a push for the play-offs as they did last term, Caldwell believes their summer preparations will leave them capable of sustaining it to the end.

“Things are going well. We’re progressing well and had a great trip to America,” he said.

“I think it’s one of the best places to go for pre-season. It’s fantastic.

“It’s good socialising with regards to shopping and a couple of nights out and these kind of things and I think that’s so important in pre-season. We’re already a close squad but we seem to have got even closer for that.

“I think those are the sort of plus points of going to America, also you get the tough training in the heat and you get really difficult games against fit lads.

“It reminds me a lot of when I was at Sunderland; we had a fantastic spirit there and we had been to America that year as well. I feel like we’ve got the same kind of spirit and hopefully we’re going to get the same results as we had then.”

And while many raised their eyebrows at the number of pre-season games scheduled – nine in total, comprising two in America, three in Scotland, followed by one in Accrington, Belfast, Bradford and the final one at home to Inverness – Caldwell is confident their busy summer campaign will leave them one step ahead of their rivals in the fitness stakes.

“I feel like things have gone really well personally,” he said.

“I definitely know that I’ve worked hard this summer, probably harder than I usually work. I never had any kind of rest. The most I had was 10 days. Usually I have three or four weeks and then do a bit of work, but I just kept ticking on, doing little runs and I think I’ve probably benefited from that and I feel fitter than I have before.

“I think all the lads came back so fit from the holidays that I’m sure Sandy (Stewart), the gaffer and Skip (Steve Davis) will be the first to say it was easy, really, to train us.

“We did some hard runs but the lads were flying and we could progress so much quicker.

“And playing games is the only way to get your sharpness and timing.

“Plus we’ve got a great mix in our squad as well with five or six younger lads and the majority of the others are 27 to 30, which is a great age to be in, and we’ve got a few of the older lads who have got the complete experience and definitely the respect of the whole squad.

“A mix is so important. Too many young lads isn’t great and too many older lads isn’t great. But we’ve just got a fantastic mix.”

He added: “That squad is so important but they need to have a focus and togetherness for players to stay fit. If you’re out of the team you work harder, you get in and you do your absolute upmost to keep your place.

“I think we’ve got the kind of lads that know that and will do that.

“Because we were reasonably successful last year, without playing to our maximum, we feel that we have to take that on.

“It’s going to be more difficult this season because teams have spent a bit of money and they’re strengthening. I certainly think the quality of players coming into the Championship now are stronger than they have been in a long time so it’s going to be difficult but we feel that we have the quality of the players to do really well.

“We have to keep up with the Joneses, keep spending the money that we’ve got and improve on every single year, creating that competition for places, which is good for any squad.”