Olympiakos pitch far from perfect but Dyche not fazed
Sean Dyche has described the surface on which Burnley are set to play their Europa League qualifying play-off first leg against Olympiakos as “not great” but insisted “we’re not too worried about it”.
Olympiakos were granted special dispensation by Uefa over the surface, but the Clarets trained at Panionios’ Nea Smyrni Stadium rather than at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in order to give the latter as much protection as possible ahead of tonight’s game.
Asked about the pitch, Dyche said: “It’s not great, but we knew that before we came. We were made aware that we’d have to train on an alternative surface which they provided, which is equally not that great I’d say, but useable.
“But it (Wednesday’s session) was only to get the travel out of their legs. We’ll have a light session in the morning, but obviously not here. This is certainly a pitch that will be interesting to see how it plays.
“It’s not ideal, but to be fair I’m sure this club don’t want it like that. We’re not too worried about it. It’s a challenge, but this whole competition will be a challenge.”
Dyche was also asked about comments made by Sam Allardyce on bein Sports, where the former Everton manager said Burnley “haven’t got the squad to cope” with playing in Europe as well as the Premier League.
Dyche said: “I’ve got great respect for people like Sam Allardyce and what he has done in the game and his years of service. I understand his train of thought, of course. I don’t think it’s anything negative about ourselves, I think it’s just looking at the bigger picture. But we want to take on the challenge. We’ve made that clear. It’s good for me as a manager who continues to learn, it’s good for the group.”