POPE CRAVES LAST LAUGH IN TALL TALE
SMALL WONDER: Pope and Sterling with England
David Anderson
friendly win over Ivory Coast and says the 5ft 7in Manchester City forward was unhappy because he towered above him.
The pair exchanged a joke about their size difference and the 6ft 3in Pope hopes to upset Sterling again when Burnley host City.
“He wasn’t too happy that I was stood next to him in the line with the height difference, we had a chuckle about that,” said the goalkeeper with a smile. “But he’s someone that I’d say is a great person to have in the dressing room. He was captain on the night, a great occasion for him.”
Pope says Sterling is a leader, even though he is not that vocal on the pitch.
“I wouldn’t say he’s a shouter and a screamer, but he’s a voice in the dressing room for sure, a leader,” said Pope. “He has played in massive games and scored at home tournaments, played in finals, won trophies with City. He is definitely a leader in the group.”
Pope says Burnley refuse to be intimidated by City, even though they have lost their past nine meetings, scoring just once. He said: “Yeah, of course, there’s no fear and also we take confidence from the fact we’ve got good results against the top teams in the last season or two. Having that in the bank is something you can lean back on.”
Burnley have two huge relegation clashes against Everton on Wednesday and Norwich next Sunday.
Pope added: “If we come out of City with a win or a draw, we’ll be in an even better position going into that Everton game.
“At this stage, it’s very much one game at a time and we must believe we can get a result in every game.”