'A really good start by Parker'
- Published
Burnley are having a "really good start to the season", according to BBC Radio Lancashire commentator Scott Reid.
The Clarets are fourth in the Championship table, four points outside the automatic promotion spots and have lost just once in their last 12 games, amid considerable squad turnover following Premier League relegation.
"I say that because of the challenges Scott Parker has had," Reid told BBC Radio Bristol's Sound of the City show ahead of the Clarets' visit to Ashton Gate on Saturday.
"The squad he has got now is not the squad he had when the season started. They've had 17 players leaving and 16 players arriving, so they've had a huge turnover of players since Parker came in.
"I think when you factor in that he's basically having to piece together a new team and try and get results, it represents a really good start by him."
Wilson Odobert, Vitinho, Dara O’Shea, Wout Weghorst and Luke McNally are just some of the players who started the season at Turf Moor but left before the end of the summer transfer window.
But while Burnley's consistency has kept them in contention, they've been slightly held back by a lack of wins and goals; they rank 11th overall for goals scored (18) and their six draws is the joint-second highest in the division.
"Undoubtedly, they're not scoring anywhere near the volume of goals they would want and being as creative as Burnley fans would like them to be," Reid added.
"But they went to Luton on the opening day of the season and scored four times and the following game they scored five times, so you're thinking it's a free-scoring Burnley side, a bit like [Vincent] Kompany's Burnley side.
"But those two opening games of the season, what he's got now is not that squad.
"Those players have gone, so I think he's had to be just a little bit cautious, make them difficult to beat, make them organised, which is what they are.
"It's not been an easy watch at times but the Burnley supporters are hoping the groundwork is in place for them to be a little bit more open and attacking as the season progresses."