Burnley’s Nick Pope: ‘You can’t take anything to heart… I’ve had pigs thrown onto the pitch in the past’

Nick Pope is ahead of schedule, arriving before the cups of tea are finished with at breakfast at Barnfield Training Centre. “I’m early…sorry,” he says as he walks into the room with a purposeful stride.

During Pope’s five previous seasons, Burnley have been involved in three relegation battles and survived. His team have the role of provincial underdogs against two big-city teams in Everton and Leeds United at the bottom this season, but they also know their way around this situation. There have been no-holds-barred meetings about how they find themselves in this situation, and how to get out again.

Brutal? “You have to be. Don’t take anything to heart,” he says. “You come into the building every day with a free mind and everyone pulling in the same direction and what everyone wants is a successful team. Tackle the real issues rather than concern yourself with things that don’t matter that much.

“We are an old squad – I am sure the stats show that. We have got an abundance of talkers. Ben Mee is captain and someone who voices his opinion well. Tarks [James Tarkowski] played for England at the top level. He has good opinions. Jack Cork has been in the Premier League a long time.”

Safety will be secured with two victories from three matches this week, starting at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. They could stay up with less, depending on how Leeds do.

Pope is focused on Burnley, using the club’s mantra of “control the controllables” in their survival fight. Rather than watching rivals play, he has been in his garden. While his time at Burnley has been relegation-free, he did go down with Charlton Athletic in the backdrop of protests at the club’s owners, so knows the consequences.

“At Charlton, we got tennis balls chucked at us and pigs thrown on the pitch,” he says. “I don’t think there will be anything like that at Burnley.

“But we’ve spoken about the wider effect and how it spreads around the town, the club and the community. That is what is great about the club, it has a big family feel. Whether you are in or out of the team, you have a good bunch of characters.”

On a personal level, Pope wants to be playing Premier League football ahead of the World Cup in November. While Sam Johnstone has kept his place in Gareth Southgate’s squad after relegation to the Championship with West Bromwich Albion, staying in the top flight would give Pope better preparation for Qatar.

“It’s very much beneficial for everyone to stay up but, yeah, it would be helpful for me in a World Cup year.”

The benefits of the group have been emphasised during Burnley’s team meetings as they face the challenge for the first time without Sean Dyche. The bounce under caretaker manager Mike Jackson has put survival in their own hands. “Five games ago we needed a good few results and we need them now too. Thirty points was never going to be enough to stay up,” he says.

Relegation is put in perspective by his farming background in Cambridgeshire, where the family livelihood depended on the harvest.

“When you are younger you can feel the world is on your shoulders and everything is the most important,” he says. “When you get more mature, you realise there are more important things in life. My dad has a natural demeanour. He never seems to stress, that is a nice trait he has given me, one of the few!”

Goalkeepers can have a big say in the relegation battle. Jordan Pickford’s two saves against Chelsea have been crucial, while Illan Meslier’s mistake at Arsenal was costly.  

“That goalkeepers’ union is still super strong. You never want to see a goalkeeper get tackled and make a mistake like that,” Pope says. “You have to be prepared for anything but if I have three quiet games, happy days. Anything else, I will be ready.”