Turf Moor praise from McClaren

Steve McClaren wanted the England B friendly to be used as a warm-up for forthcoming games against Brazil and Estonia. It was therefore an important night at Turf Moor as Burnley FC hosted the international against Albania on Friday.

The last time Turf Moor hosted an International involving a senior England team was against Wales in 1927!

It was important therefore that the England B International, proved successful for our club for all the right reasons and not just the result and an England victory. The latter was achieved with a 3-1 victory over Albania as reported previously by Vital Burnley FC. But how successful was the organisation and how good was the atmosphere achieved?

No better confirmation of how good the night was in this regard came from England manager, Steve McClaren himself who believed the match at Turf Moor proved a great success.

Over 20,000 fans saw the match, an almost capacity gate for the ground. This was a tremendous achievement and McClaren had nothing but praise for the Turf Moor support.

He said: 'We were delighted to be at Burnley. It shows that taking England around the country, which I have been involved in, has been a fantastic exercise.

'We have opened ourselves up to a lot of fans that wouldn't get the opportunity to see these players and this was a great opportunity.

'Many people were talking about the B game and wondering why. But I think it has been a very, very worthwhile exercise and a terrific atmosphere.'

'I asked the players to go out and play with a smile on their faces.

'They did that, the crowd helped and it's good to see that we can bring a B team to Burnley and get a full house, which is fantastic. I think everyone has gone away and enjoyed it.'

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