Lancashire

During the international break, Axel Tuanzebe helped DR Congo reach their first World Cup in 52 years, and he called it "the greatest moment of my career."

Tuanzebe scored the winning goal in the World Cup play-off final against Jamaica to send his country to the showpiece event this summer.

Discussing the moment he made history, the defender said: "The manager spoke to me briefly after the game. He was emotional, in tears, and he was just relieved that we got the goal because the pressure was huge coming from the country and doing it for the country.

"There's a different sort of element when you're playing for your nation. Expectations, and you can see the other side of it, scrutiny side of it, should you lose.

"We all knew what was at stake. A lot of nerves creeping into the performance, but again, just great to get it over the line."

You can listen to the full interview with Tuanzebe by pressing play on the clip above

The Premier League's return this weekend brings trepidation for some and excitement for others.

Football's emotional rollercoaster becomes intense at this time of year, unless of course mid-table mediocrity has taken a grip of things in recent months.

So how are you feeling as an Burnley fan with just a handful of weeks left to go?

The league form reads: WDLLDL

The next three league fixtures are: Brighton (h), Nottingham Forest (a) and Manchester City (h)

Let us know how you're feeling here

Holly Bacon
BBC Sport journalist

Burnley boss Scott Parker has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Brighton at Turf Moor (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• The Burnley boss said the break has been good for everyone at the club: "It has been a long period, probably the longest that I've ever experienced. We had some downtime, gave the players some downtime, certainly after the Fulham game just to recuperate for many reasons - physically and mentally - and then we've worked pretty tough over the past couple of weeks. It has been a good period for all of us."

• Parker feels it was a "massive achievement" for Axel Tuanzebe to score the goal that secured World Cup qualification for DR Congo. He added: "I've seen the adulation he's got since he's got back, rightly so."

• He hopes Tuanzebe is fit to face Brighton: "He's not played a lot of football, obviously, and he's gone away and played 120 minutes. So he's come back in late as well so we'll see."

• Parker said Mike Tresor has "progressed more now, [but will need] a few more weeks training" and that Zeki Amdouni is back with them on the grass "albeit a bit modified". He also confirmed Jordan Beyer and Connor Roberts will still be a "little way off", while Hannibal Mejbri is probably a couple of weeks away, however, his issue is "not as bad" as they initially thought.

• The Burnley boss acknowledged they can't deny the challenge ahead is beginning to change with seven games of the season to go: "The longer you go on, every game that skips away that you don't manage to pick up those points, that challenge becomes much bigger."

• Parker insisted he has "pure focus" and looking at what might happen is a "drainer". He added: "It can only bring more doubt and you're certainly not going to get the best version [of yourselves]."

You can join Gary Hunt & Steve Eyre on BBC Radio Lancashire for commentary on 95.5FM on Saturday

Got a question about Burnley? Get in touch here and we'll seek answers from our experts

Image source, Getty Images

Preston North End have released a statement condemning racist abuse directed at left-back Thierry Small following the club's 1-1 draw with Queens Park Rangers on Monday.

North End stated that they had discovered "deplorable comments of a racist nature" aimed at Small on a club Instagram post.

Small, 21, scored an own goal in the 82nd minute of the match and the abuse has been reported to Lancashire Police.

"The club continues to reiterate its stance against racism and condemns any behaviour of this nature," the statement said., external

"There is no place for such abhorrent and frankly disgusting and discriminatory language in football nor society

"If and when the individual responsible is identified, they will be banned from Deepdale for life."

Natalie Bromley
Fan writer

Kieran Trippier has announced his intention to leave Newcastle at the end of the season. While I don't expect this will happen - it's expected he'll probably end up in Saudi Arabia from what I've read - it did get me wondering whether I would consider having him back at Burnley.

Trippier was part of that early squad of Sean Dyche players, along with Danny Ings. Each stayed with the club for a really good spell before going on to much bigger careers.

And I miss that. It wasn't that long ago that squads were built and stayed together over promotions and relegations. Solid relationships were built with fans and players earned their chants from the terraces. We felt together.

For the longest time now, Burnley have been selling entire squads season after season and fans feel a massive disconnect with the team on the pitch.

When Trippier and Ings left, they left as local boys. One of us. Ings established a disability trust in his name which continued for long after he left.

Do we see this any more? We definitely don't at Burnley, and I wonder if this is the case across the football world or is it just an East Lancashire problem?

I'm at that stage of the season now when I'm done with the misery and trying to shift my mindset to look forward to a new start in the Championship. And for once this feels OK, because the benefit of such a high turnover of players is that I'm probably not going to miss any of them when they're gone.

On to the next chapter. And perhaps we wouldn't go too far amiss to welcome back some old familiar faces.

Find more from Natalie Bromley at No Nay Never podcast, external