BEN Mee admitted it was nice to be talking about football again after marking his 300th league appearance for Burnley with the winner at Crystal Palace.
The Clarets captain earned widespread praise for a passionate interview given after a ‘White Lives Matter Burnley’ banner was flown over the 5-0 defeat at Manchester City.
At Selhurst Park he starred on the pitch, a diving header just after the hour mark sealing a 1-0 victory and back-to-back Premier League wins since the night to forget at the Etihad Stadium.
“It’s nice to come here and talk about football but I’ve been humbled by the response to that interview,” the 30-year-old told Amazon Prime.
“The club has had a lot of emails which I’ve read and it’s nice to hear. It wasn’t a great night for us but we’ve responded well.
“To go and put that all behind us and get two wins on the bounce, that’s never easy in the Premier League, never mind with what we’re up against.”
The win in Croydon came with Sean Dyche down to the bare bones, an ever-growing injury list compounding the departures of Jeff Hendrick, Joe Hart and Aaron Lennon at the end of their contracts.
Mee’s goal, just his seventh in nine years at Turf Moor, settled things though.
“Coming into the game with a depleted squad, with only one senior boy on the bench, and playing like we did tonight, it shows the character, it shows we’re together and how we work hard,” the skipper said.
“To get a goal is nice. I’ve had chances cleared off the line or good saves so it’s nice to finally get one in.
“It wasn’t a great ball from Westy (Ashley Westwood), it wasn’t what we worked on but you’ve got to make the best of it! I managed to get in front of the defender and got a good connection on it.”
The Clarets next welcome Sheffield United on Sunday with a host of the club’s young players set to be involved again, Dyche naming just seven substitutes against Palace.
“Hopefully we’ll get some bodies back but the young boys have come in and trained really well with us,” Mee said.
“They’ll be delighted to be involved in the first team. It’s a great chance for them and they’ll see how we work as well. There’s a great spirit and they’ll see what work they need to do to get into this team.
“We don’t complain, we get our heads down and we were fantastic I thought.”
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