Vincent Kompany insists he is learning plenty about himself as he tries to steer Burnley to Premier League survival this season.

For the bulk of his career the 37-year-old has enjoyed huge success, winning four Premier League titles as a player with Manchester City, the Belgian league twice with Anderlecht and, as a manager, storming to the Championship title last term.

But this campaign has been very different as Burnley sit second bottom of the table with only 13 points and three wins from 23 games.

Kompany’s belief remains unshakeable going into Saturday’s daunting trip to Anfield, but this is a new experience.

“I get to learn about myself and I like what I see of myself in a difficult situation,” Kompany said.

“In every single job or new chapter, you start with an idea of how you want to be when you’re at your best and an idea of how you want to be at your lowest. But to follow the course when all the emotions kick in and there are outside forces is really difficult.

“I know I prefer to win, but in a situation like this I’ve not lost a single bit of motivation, I’ve not lost clarity about the situation, I’ve not lost the sense of responsibility of belief.

“That’s why I don’t want to deflect, I don’t want to start saying we should have had more or this or that. It’s about us. So it’s not affected me or my happiness of doing the job but it just focuses you even more.”

Burnley could take confidence from the way they fought back from 2-0 down to claim a 2-2 draw at home to Fulham last weekend, the first point they have taken from a losing position all season, but it still leaves them seven points from safety. Wins are what they need.

“For me it’s a discipline to not only show belief but to really believe and to consistently stay on that path,” Kompany added. “That allows you to have a run, to have a turn of fortune because it’s been at times nothing more than that.”

To that end, Kompany said the Fulham game was an important step in reinforcing the messages he gives to his players.

“I hope the lads believe they can score goals, they can be a good team, when they put their minds to it,” he said. “Some of the things we showed in that game are more of things we have to show towards the end of the season.

“It’s something we’ve spoken about a lot but at the moment its a results issue for us. In many games we’ve shown the same signs we showed against Fulham – in terms of either finishing strongly or being in the game to the end.

“But for us it’s a case of turning these moments into results and that for us is maybe a positive step.”

Few outside of the club will believe in Burnley when they head to Anfield on Saturday, but every game is an opportunity in Kompany’s mind.

“It’s football, things happen in the game,” he said. “The starting point of a game like this, when you go to Anfield you’ve got to do everything right and you’ve got to have things go your way.

“The biggest thing we can control is what we can do on the day and that’s how we prepare for the game.”