Burnley boss Vincent Kompany hopes his players can prove they belong in the Premier League.

The Clarets play at Turf Moor on Saturday for the first time in a month when they take on Crystal Palace, looking to end a run of four successive defeats.

Kompany’s side sit in the bottom three having picked up only four points, all away from home.

He said: “Staying up is a way for this club to grow into this league. But this year is by far the hardest.

“You find yourself in the middle ground now between the two divisions where you’ve probably deservedly moved on from the Championship but to say you belong in the Premier League, there’s still a gap.

“I think the squad is still healthy in terms of you can go down really strong but you can also grow into this league and be stronger in the years to come. We’ll have to fight for every point but I don’t think we’re in a position where we have to be too surprised or panicking about anything.”

The fixture list was certainly not kind to Burnley, whose home defeats have come against Manchester City, Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Aston Villa.

Palace have picked up only one point from their last three games, and Kompany said: “It’s massive for us. We’ve not played for a while at home so we are looking forward to playing in front of our fans.

“The type of league it is, I think there’s no game where you can expect but there’s every game where you have the opportunity and tomorrow we have to look at it as an opportunity to show to the fans something they’ve been waiting for in the Premier League.

“I’m a big believer of home advantage so I do think it’s part of the make-up of any successful team.”

Speaking on YouTube this week, Burnley co-owner and former NFL star JJ Watt said Burnley need to “step it up a little” and “show some resilience”, but Kompany insists his squad are showing the right attitude.

“JJ’s someone that I speak to,” he said. “Historically in the Premier League there’s very few times when it’s not been difficult for Burnley. There’s a way to be in these moments, there’s a type of togetherness you need.

“An elite athlete like him will recognise these moments. Seeing the character we have in the team as well, it’s a good place, we have good staff, good people, we have also a good team that’s working through it in a way that I would like to see and that gives me confidence they can level up.”

Kompany has not been helped by injury problems and he will still be without Hjalmar Ekdal, Manuel Benson and Aaron Ramsey, while Josh Cullen is suspended after picking up five yellow cards and Lyle Foster remains sidelined by illness.

The Clarets’ top scorer has missed the last two matches and Kompany, who declined to divulge any details of Foster’s problem, said he is likely to be out until after the international break.

“At the moment, no signs of improvement,” said the Belgian. “The only thing I can say is he is probably not going to be available before the international break. It’s something we have to deal with.”

Defender Jordan Beyer, though, could be available after recovering from a knee injury.