Burn: We have to stay true to our beliefs

Graham Potter’s men won plenty of plaudits for the quality of their football before the 14-week shutdown caused by the Covid-19 crisis.

Burn said, "The gaffer has got his own philosophy and any manager who starts to veer away from that they are not staying true to themselves.

“We have put in some really good performances and I feel we should be higher up in the league, but that’s not to be. To turn around now and completely change it would undo all that hard work that we’ve put in.

“We want to play a possession style to build into those final third areas and if we have a little bit more quality at that end of the pitch we will score more goals.”

Burn thinks staying true to their beliefs might stand them in good stead, even though they have a tough run-in at the Amex and won’t have the support of 30,000 Albion fans with their five remaining games, starting against Arsenal, behind closed doors.

“When you're playing out from the back and not playing well, the crowd can affect that and make players nervy,” he said.

“You see that every week in the Premier League so you might see teams doing it a lot more because that pressure [from the crowd] is not there.

“Obviously, the pressure is still there to win games, but we will be trying to build up from the back and be as controlled in possession as possible and try to score that way.”

Albion have champions-elect Liverpool, both Manchester clubs and Leicester still to play but the squad aren’t daunted by the fixture list, insists the 28-year-old, who signed a new contract in January committing him to the club until 2023.

“I don't think it will. We have already beaten Arsenal this season. We won't go into that game thinking we won't take everything from it. I know we haven't won a game yet in 2020, but I think the performances we put in warranted better results and we are still full of confidence.

“Obviously, we have some big teams still to play, but we also have teams nearer the bottom as well. You want to play in the Premier League to prove yourself against the very best.”

Arsenal will have already played Manchester City by the time they arrive at the Amex, giving Albion the opportunity to see how the Gunners are shaping up.

“It could work both ways,” he added. “It’s a slight advantage for us because we can see what they have worked on but it’s an advantage to them that they have already had a game. Matchday routines are going to be different and having already done that it might give them a slight advantage. But they won’t have been able to study us, so I think it evens itself out.”