CONFIDENT captain Steven Caldwell believes Burnley can begin the new season as they mean to go on.

The Clarets kick off the new campaign in just two days’ time at Sheffield Wednesday.

And Caldwell says he and his team-mates are feeling fully prepared for the rigours of the next Championship calendar.

“I’m looking forward to getting started,” said the 27-year-old, on the back of a nine-game pre-season programme, in which Burnley have won seven.

“I think everybody feels fit. It’s probably good to have a week where we don’t have a game. You can get a wee bit of training in and recharge the batteries.

“I don’t know if it was tiredness but there were people – myself included – who were probably a little bit lethargic in the second half (against Inverness on Saturday). So we’re pleased to get a week’s training and look forward to Saturday feeling fresh and raring to go for what is really the only game that matters out of it all.

“I really hope we win because it gets you off to a great start and you can push on from there. But at the end of the day, it’s about an overall season.

“You can have a bad start and pick up, or you can fly at the start and hit a brick wall. It’s really about getting that consistency.

“That’s one thing we never achieved last season. We had some fantastic performances during the season and some not so good ones. But it’s very important that we get off to a good start because it will breed confidence for the remaining 45 games.”

And with six new team-mates welcomed into the fold so far this summer, Caldwell feels Burnley are looking stronger than ever.

“A new season’s always exciting. It’s an extremely tough league but even tougher now. There are better teams in it this year, better players so everybody has to move forward and I think we’re doing that,” he said.

“We’ve improved, we’ve signed some good players, we’ve got a bigger squad from last season and we’re pleased that good players come into the club obviously because it’s great for the team and the club.

“We’re excited about the start of this season and we know that we’re going to have to play at our maximum week in, week out to achieve success.

“We’re well aware of what’s needed, and I certainly think we’ve got the quality to do that – we just need to do it every single week.”

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