Ahead of Newcastle United’s trip to the DW Stadium to face Wigan Athletic on Wednesday night, I was lucky enough to catch up with Latics’ defender and boyhood Magpies’ season-ticket holder Dan Burn to ask him a few questions about the upcoming fixture and his views on this season’s Championship campaign.
Q : Hi Dan, Thank you very much for taking the time to catch up with NUFC360 and answer a few of our questions.
Firstly, who is the most difficult player/players that you have had to mark during your time in the Championship so far?
A: I would say either Kodjia, who was at Bristol City at the time, or Glenn Murray of Brighton. Both for very different reasons.
Kodjia is very quick and sharp, always plays on your shoulder, so he’s usually first to every ball played over the top. He’s quite unpredictable too, so when he gets the ball it’s hard to read what he’s going to do with it. Villa paid £15 million for him so he must be worth the money!
Glenn Murray is big and physical, he really helps his team get up the pitch. Anything played into him he usually holds up and lays off to his teammates. He’s good in the air and round the box. If you get too tight to him he can roll you as well, so it’s difficult to judge what to do.
Q: What would you say is the main difference between playing in the Premier League and now playing in the Championship?
A: The main difference is the quality. The pace is slower in the Premier League but the players are better and if you make a mistake at any point then you are usually punished.
The Championship is 100mph and harder physically. The quality is still very good, the good thing is that anyone can beat anyone in the Championship, there are rarely big gaps through the league.
In the Premier League there are games that you are pretty sure you won’t win.
Q: Do you believe that Newcastle have the credentials to go on and win the league?
A: Yes, Newcastle will win the league! I’d be very surprised if they don’t. The squad quality and depth is far better than most if not all the other teams in the league.
They have the biggest financial backing and are the biggest club in the league. It’s most teams’ cup final when they play against them this season.
It’s like a fear factor with Newcastle, they have a lead before they even start some games because of the players they have and the fans they have every week.
Q: Do you still keep an eye out for Newcastle’s results?
A: Yes! I still keep an eye out for the results as I would say I still support them. It’s been a long time since I have seen them play, though, and when we come up against them on Wednesday I will want Wigan to win!
It’s harder when you play for an opposition side as you don’t follow your boyhood team as much as you would usually. You end up just supporting the team you play for.
Q: In your opinion who was been Wigan’s standout player this season?
A: I don’t think there has been one stand out player this season. I would say we have lots of players who are consistently good, such as Stephen Warnock or Jake Buxton.
Will Grigg has the potential to be our best player, he just hasn’t been given a chance this season yet really. He’s still our top goalscorer, however!
Q: Are you looking forward to playing against Dwight Gayle on Wednesday?
A: I hate playing against players like Dwight Gayle!
He’s small, quick and sharp. I’m pretty much the opposite so it’s quite hard to play against players like that.
It’s a challenge and I always think I can play against them, don’t get me wrong. However, I would prefer to play against a Mitrovic type of player.
We would like to thank Dan for taking the time to take part in this interview and we wish him and Wigan Athletic the best of luck for the remainder of the season (starting after Wednesday night of course!).