'It's a mentality thing': Newcastle United defender Dan Burn rallies troops ahead of important match at Bournemouth
The Vitality Stadium hoodoo is a curse that Eddie Howe's Newcastle United have yet to break, along with the Anfield curse.
The Magpies' last win at Bournemouth came in the days of lockdown and fake crowd noise being pumped through your speakers as you took a two-hour break from hammering Warzone and arguing with your significant other about your increased alcohol consumption. Ah, lockdown. What a time to be alive.
We put the curse down to Eddie Howe's sentimental attachment to Bournemouth, but they're a bloody good side now, so the charity has to end, Eddie.
Dan Burn is very aware of the Vitality curse and has issued a statement to The Chronicle saying that they can't go from that level of performance against Barcelona to lose at Bournemouth.
Dan Burn is aware Newcastle have struggled at Bournemouth lately
The colossal defender was an Eddie Howe signing and has therefore never won at the Vitality Stadium as a Newcastle player, and it's something he wants to put right.
"We've not played well there since I've been here anyway, so it's something we'll look to put right.
"It's a mentality thing, we can't just turn up to these big games against Barcelona and then not perform at the weekend.
"We've struggled at Bournemouth, since I've been here anyway, and not turned it on.
"Those are lessons that we'll hopefully learn from the last one and recover and go again."
Dan Burn may be relegated to the bench for today's clash
We're not 100% convinced that Dan Burn will start today. Fabian Schar is out of today's game, and it seems like the perfect excuse for Eddie Howe to test out his alternative centre-back pairing of Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman.
Dan Burn has been phenomenal for Newcastle over the last 18 months, and it would be harsh to drop him to the bench when he's playing so well, but he's 33, playing every game and representing England. Give the man a rest.
The air is thinner up where he is, too, so he surely needs more time to recover. Obviously, we won't be upset to see his name on the teamsheet later today.
