Burnley first-teamer makes promotion prediction on the Clarets | OneFootball

Burnley midfielder Jack Cork believes his side will be in the promotion mix at the end of the season following a bright start to the campaign, issuing this confident prediction to the Burnley Express.

The Clarets have made a very good start to life under Vincent Kompany, with the Belgian potentially expected to get off to a slow start this season considering the radical changes that were made at Turf Moor during the summer.

Not only did several players arrive – but quite a few star men left too with James Tarkowski joining Everton and Ben Mee linking up with Brentford on the expiration of their contracts in Lancashire.

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Nick Pope joined Newcastle, Nathan Collins made the switch to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Dwight McNeil secure a move to Everton and Maxwel Cornet made a Premier League return too as he joined West Ham United – leaving Kompany with a considerable amount of work to do as part of his rebuild.

They haven’t looked like a side that are only just getting to know each other though, having the chance to go top of the Championship table again tonight with a victory against Birmingham City.

And Cork believes his team will still be high up the table when next May comes along.

He said: “I’d love to get promoted, I’d love to have another go in the Premier League.

“It would be amazing and I’m sure everybody else would say the same. I believe that we will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.”

The Verdict:

Considering the scale of their rebuild, Kompany and the players have to be commended for their work, though many would argue that they should be at the top end of the table anyway considering the quality of players they have at their disposal.

Top-quality players on paper don’t always remain in the promotion mix though, as Sheffield United showed last season when they struggled massively under Slavisa Jokanovic before the arrival of Paul Heckingbottom.

In fairness, Kompany has been backed to bring in replacements for those that have left and a productive summer in terms of incomings has probably helped the former Manchester City defender’s cause.

Jokanovic didn’t exactly manage to enjoy a successful window when he was in charge of the Blades, with most of his additions coming in during the latter stages of August last year.

Even with the help Kompany has had though, he has organised his players well and is thriving in a new division already. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he was the subject of interest from elsewhere at some point if he can continue to keep the Clarets at the top end of the table.