Vincent Kompany watched Nathan Tella’s brace hearth Burnley into the final 16 of the FA Cup after which joked he had hidden his cellphone throughout January to make sure there was no hazard of the ahead being recalled by Southampton.
Tella scored after simply 46 seconds of Tuesday evening’s fourth spherical replay in opposition to Ipswich, however Burnley wanted his second in stoppage time to see off the Tractor Boys, who had levelled by means of George Hirst solely three minutes into the match, 2-1.
The targets had been Tella’s tenth and eleventh of the season for Burnley, the form of manufacturing goal-shy Southampton may have the ability to use themselves of their battle in opposition to relegation.
“We hid the phones and made sure nobody contacted us,” Kompany mentioned with amusing when requested if Saints boss Nathan Jones had ever requested about recalling Tella. “The last thing we wanted was to ask questions. We’re happy he’s here with us and that’s all that matters.”
Tella struggled for enjoying time with Southampton final season, making solely 14 begins in all competitions, and Kompany believes the 23-year-old is prospering on the additional duty he has at Turf Moor.
“These kind of players, they need to play, that’s the reason ultimately why he’s here, but there’s never been any doubt about his ability to score and you can see in front of goal, he just needs to get in the right position and he needs to get the service,” he mentioned.
“The other side of it is he works hard for the team. He doesn’t just strengthen us when we’ve got the ball. He gives us something when we don’t have the ball. It’s the right place at the right time for him. After that we’ll see but he’s doing what he needs to be doing now.”
Victory offers Burnley a final 16 tie at dwelling to League One Fleetwood, providing a transparent alternative to succeed in the quarter-finals for the primary time since 2003.
Kompany’s precedence stays the league – as proven by the seven adjustments he made to his line-up – however there can be no hurt in a Cup run.
“We’ve given everybody a little bit of hope,” Kompany mentioned. “That’s good. It’s something that’s going to live in the background, but we can go back to trying to be a good team in the Championship and that will be our main focus now.”
Having held Burnley to a goalless draw at Portman Road, Ipswich once more confirmed why they’re within the thick of the League One promotion race with a battling efficiency.
Although Tella’s late strike got here as a merciless blow, Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna made the lengthy journey dwelling a contented man.
“I’m really proud of the players and proud of the supporters,” he mentioned. “I thought it was a very good performance against an outstanding side.
“We went toe-to-toe with them, we played bravely without the ball and we represented ourselves how we wanted to, especially after conceding so early. We just got caught out by the speed and the quality of an opponent we don’t face very often.
“To show the response that we did, the players can take great pride in that. The key bit now is how we can use the lessons and the level of the opponent and the level we showed across the two games to give us a boost and help us for the rest of the season.”