Sam Vokes: Burnley can prosper in the Premier League this season - just like Wales did at Euro 2016
As Turf Moor prepares for its third Premier League campaign in seven years, the parallels between Wales and Burnley are clear to see
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Sam Vokes was the last of Sean Dyche’s Burnley squad to check-in for pre-season training this summer, prompting the predictable accusations of special treatment for the centre-forward.
“I was the last one back, so was sat on the beach when the rest of the lads were doing all their running,” Vokes smiles. “But I do remind them that I was working for seven weeks while they were all on holiday.”
Vokes was too busy for holidays in June and the first week of July was also unexpectedly eaten into courtesy of his magical mystery tour with Wales, which took the 26-year-old and his international team-mates to the brink of the Euro 2016 final.
The former Wolverhampton Wanderers forward secured his place in Welsh football folklore by scoring the ‘other’ second-half goal in the 3-1 quarter-final victory against Belgium in Lille -- even Vokes accepts his late header cannot compete with Hal Robson-Kanu’s Cruyff-turn goal earlier in the game -- and with Swansea City due at Turf Moor for today’s (Sat) Premier League opener, he admits he there is no escaping Wales and the feats of the summer just yet.
“When the fixtures came out, I was down at breakfast with the Wales squad and some of the Swansea lads were there, so we had some banter about it,” Vokes said. “I’m not sure if I’ll be getting a standing ovation from all sides of the ground, but who knows!?
“It was a fantastic summer and I’ll try to live off that goal against Belgium for the rest of my life.
“It was a great evening, one of the best nights in Welsh history -- a great victory against a strong Belgian side.
“And for us to win a quarter-final and get into a semi, and to be part of it with a goal, was a great achievement.
“But it’s been great to get back in around the lads at Burnley and be part of this squad again. The gaffer gave me a couple of weeks off after the tournament and it was nice to be away, but I’m glad to be back.”
As Turf Moor prepares for its third Premier League campaign in seven years, the parallels between Wales and Burnley are clear to see.
Both unfancied and under-resourced, a collective unity and team spirit has taken both to where they now stand -- Wales as one of Europe’s most respected teams and Burnley, once more regarded as a club who continually punch about their weight.
Wales, of course, had the ace card of Gareth Bale in France, but Vokes insists that Burnley can prosper in the Premier League this season if they maintain the togetherness that also ran through the Welsh squad this summer.
“The #TogetherStronger hash tag we had with Wales was right because are all really close,” Vokes said. “Every night in the camp we would spend be together, socialising playing table tennis, pool, watching games -- I think that’s all part of it.
“You can see it when we go out and play, how close the lads are and how hard we work for each other. That paid off because we went into the tournament with the attitude that, having not been there before, whatever happens will be a success.
“I think there is a comparison between the two squads, with Wales and Burnley. It comes a lot from the group and how we operate together on a daily basis.
“We all work hard for each other and know our jobs and that pays off on a Saturday. Everyone is willing to work hard for each other.
Here with Burnley, people wrote us off last Christmas, but we went into the new year and were 23 games unbeaten and it got us promoted.
“There is a lot to be said for hard work. It’s massive. Here with Burnley, people wrote us off last Christmas, but we went into the new year and were 23 games unbeaten and it got us promoted.
“Those runs don’t just happen. It comes from the hard work we put in every week.”
A survivor of Burnley’s last campaign in the top flight, when Dyche was unable to stave off relegation, Vokes regards this season as his first real crack at the Premier League.
Having missed the first half of the 2014-15 campaign with a cruciate ligament injury, Vokes admits that it took longer than expected to return to full fitness, with the Premier League passing him by.
“I was gutted to miss out on the first half of our last Premier League season,” he said. “It was tough, especially on the opening night when we played Chelsea and I was watching from the stand.
“Looking back, I probably wasn’t fully fit until the start of the following season. It’s a real 18 month injury.
“You need nine months to get back on the pitch, but probably the same again until you feel yourself.
“It wasn’t until the next season that I got up to my match tempo, but that’s what drives you really and makes it more important to take your opportunities, so I am really looking forward to this one.”
But would staying up with Burnley match the sensation of scoring the goal which confirmed Wales’ place in the Euro 2016 final?
“It was great to get the goal,” Vokes said. “We were 2-1 up, defending for our lives, and I came on and felt like a centre-half at times.
“We were under so much pressure, so to break away and get that goal in front of our fans was a great feeling because it felt like we had done it.
“I can’t describe how it felt when the ball hit the back of the net.
“It was a great summer for me, something special to be part of, but I want that to continue now with Burnley.”
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