‘Easy excuse’ - Dan Burn releases 140-word statement as Newcastle United face £48m dilemma
Dan Burn has dismissed suggestions that Newcastle United lost to Bournemouth due to fatigue.
Eddie Howe’s men were stunned 4-1 on home soil - their biggest home defeat since December 2021. The setback ended Newcastle’s nine-game winning run and left them clinging onto fourth spot, with Chelsea set to face Wolverhampton Wanderers tomorrow.
Burn - one of United’s standout players this season - was given the nod at centre-back alongside Sven Botman. The latter was substituted at half-time for Fabian Schar as he returned following illness.
All three defenders are giving Howe a selection headache ahead of next weekend’s trip to Southampton. None of them covered themselves in glory yesterday, with Burn and Schar especially sloppy in possession.
Toon boss Howe conceded that tiredness was a factor in Newcastle's surrender to Bournemouth. However, Burn views fatigue as an easy excuse and praised the Cherries for their counter-attacking style.
“I think it’s an easy excuse that you’re tired,” he said post-match. “Obviously, we changed a lot of players for the Bromley game, so I don’t think you can really use that as an excuse.
"They are very, very good on the counter. They've got some very good players and are very dangerous. They ask questions that a lot of other teams don't ask. They go quite long and direct and you don't come up against that as much in this league.
"We played in areas that we usually don't. We lost the ball quite a lot in the middle of the pitch. It is disappointing. We've been on a great run so we just need to dust ourselves down and go again. Those are the standards we set for ourselves. The work we've done throughout the season has been exactly the same."