Kieran Trippier showed his class after Newcastle United's 2-1 victory over Burnley by praising the relegated Clarets for making a decent fist of their battle against the drop.
The Lancashire side, who Trippier made his name with, looked dead and buried at one stage in the season but fought back to take it to the last day. For Newcastle though the narrow win ensured United finished 11th with Trippier feeling it was a massive result on a day in which Burnley fought for their lives.
Trippier was also pleased to complete 90 minutes for the first time since a foot injury in February. Afterwards, he told Chronicle Live: "It’s a great way to sign off the season. We knew what Burnley were fighting for and obviously coming to Turf Moor is a difficult place, I was here for four years so I know what it’s like.
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"You’ve got to give Burnley a lot of credit, they were fighting for everything but the way we defended we deserved the result even though Burnley may feel they deserved the result as well. I’m sorry that Burnley went down but this is football, we needed to try and get into the top 10."
Trippier says that Newcastle's ruthless mentality must now be carried into next season. He said: "We’re professionals, we want to win and we came to win. The supporters get right behind them and that gives them a lift in the final 15-20 minutes so you have to give them a lot of credit.
"They had the best chances of the game but it just shows how far we’ve come as a team because we’ve got to come to places like this and show our character as individuals and as a team and I thought we did that today."
However, the full-back wanted to leave the final word with his old club. He said: "It is mixed emotions of course but I’m a professional player, I’m not at Burnley anymore, I’m at Newcastle so I wanted to win the game but this is football. I’ve been relegated with Burnley before and I'm good mates with people at the club so I’m sorry that they’ve gone down."
