Flight hitch hits
Sean boys
BURNLEY’S preparations for their European adventure were last night thrown into disarray by a broken down plane.
Sean Dyche’s men were left grounded at Manchester Airport yesterday to hinder preparations for tonight’s Europa League qualifying tie with Aberdeen.
And they are also in hot water with UEFA for failing to make the 340-mile journey to Scotland in time.
Burnley’s chartered flight was scheduled to arrive in Scotland at 5pm yesterday for Dyche to appear at a compulsory pre-match press conference. But the Clarets – who trained at their own Lancashire base before travelling
– ran in to difficulty when their aircraft developed technical problems.
It meant Dyche’s media conference was cancelled.
After being delayed until
8pm, they are set to be in trouble with UEFA for failing to meet the obligations.
Rules of the competition state both clubs must be present in the host city the day before a game and must hold a press conference.
Dyche has bizarrely offered to hold a media briefing at
Pittodrie today – less than nine hours before the firstleg tie – but that will not be within the UEFA timeframe.
The Clarets have told
UEFA of their travel woes and will hope to avoid any punishment following their nightmare day.
Significantly, Burnley’s players missed the chance to visit the stadium last night
mahead of their first European match since 1967.
Burnley defied the odds by finishing seventh in the Premier League last season to book a place in the Europa League qualifiers. Defender James Tarkowski is relishing the club’s longawaited foray in to Europe.
Tarkowski said: “It’s another tick on your list of everything you want to achieve in football.
“I made it to the Premier League, which is nice, got a little bit of international football and then to say you’ve played European football in the Europa League is another achievement.
“So hopefully I get the chance here.
“The possibility of Europe was mentioned quite a lot at the start but it’s nice for it now to finally be the next game.”