DWIGHT McNeil wants to continue to let his football do the talking amid talk of a potential England Under-21 call-up.
The Clarets youngster shone in the weekend defeat to Liverpool where he had the beating of England international full back Trent Alexander-Arnold on more than one occasion.
McNeil, who has started 11 straight Premier League games for Burnley since being thrust into the side for the win against West Ham in late December, has been a bright spark for Sean Dyche’s side in his fledgling Clarets career.
His form has impressed his club manager with Dyche saying after the 4-2 reverse at Anfield that the 19-year-old had to be contention for a Young Lions place.
Aidy Boothroyd names his Under-21 squad today for matches against Poland and Germany later this month.
McNeil has made 17 appearances in all competitions for the Clarets this season, including 976 minutes in the Premier League, more than Tom Davies and Phil Foden who started in the Young Lions last match.
And the Clarets wideman admitted he relished the big game environment at Liverpool, and wants more of the same.
“The lads were asking me if I’d ever been to Anfield and I said ‘no’. They told me that this stadium and Old Trafford were the best ones,” said McNeil.
“You could tell before the game, the atmosphere was really good. It’s all new and it’s like a dream come true. I just want to keep going. I continue to look at other grounds that I want to play at as well.
“I just look at it as another game really and ignore how big it is. You can’t worry, you’ve just got to let your football do the talking. You’ve got to take everything away from it - the atmosphere and the crowd - and concentrate on your football. That’s what I’ve been doing.
“I just want to play in every big game to help enhance the experience.”
McNeil has retained his place despite the return to fitness of Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Robbie Brady and will be aiming to keep his spot in the side for the weekend visit of Leicester City.
The Clarets are in need of points after a three-game losing run which has dropped them to 17th in the table, just two points clear of Cardiff City with eight games remaining.
But McNeil is confident Burnley have enough to beat the drop.
“All I want to do is play football because I’m really enjoying it at the minute. All you want to do is stay in the team. I want to continue doing that.
“All eight games are really big, five of those are at home. I think if we can get a few more wins we’ll be okay.”
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