Burnley defender Kyle Walker said he has "never wanted a victory as much" as against Derby County on Saturday, as Clarets aim to turn around their sorry start to the season. Bottom of the Championship and without a victory inside 90 minutes this term, Burnley's winless run stretches back to 11 February and 22 games - including a run of 13 games at the tail end of a 2025-26 campaign where they were relegated from the Premier League. Walker, who won 17 trophies with Manchester City prior to his move to Turf Moor in July 2025 and was part of City's Treble-winning squad in 2023, has played in six Championship games so far this term.
"I'm desperate," he told BBC Radio Lancashire. "I've never wanted a victory so much because there's a lot of noise. "Am I the most talented player?
I played with many more talented players than me but what I pride myself on is working hard and proving people wrong. "That's what hopefully I can prove by coming out and being the voice of the of the players and hopefully they're listening to this and they take this on board that I'm not laying down and I'm willing to fight for the all the way to the very end." From best to worst: The case for Burnley's defence 'It's not a blip, Burnley are in crisis' Prior to joining Burnley, Walker had been regarded as one of the best right-backs in world football and had enjoyed an enormous amount of success at Manchester City under the stewardship of Pep Guardiola. The relationship between Walker and Guardiola broke down, leading to him spending time on loan with Italian giants AC Milan, but the England international returned to England with Burnley ahead of what had been their return to the Premier League last year.
Asked about how the difference between winning regularly with City to the contrast of the past 14 months with Burnley, Walker said it had been a tough transition. "I've probably not experienced this ever. It's a different dressing room to what I was in at City where everyone kind of marshalled themselves," he added, "You didn't have to really rile people up to get them a game of football out of them.
They had their own standards and they set their own bars to then go and achieve certain things. "I think that's why they're at Manchester City and why Manchester City were so successful because we had a great manager. "I think even if Pep wasn't there we would have gone on and achieved a lot of things as well because we had a great team and a great togetherness within that.
"I'm not saying that the togetherness is not within Burnley because it completely is, it's a great bunch of lads." Pre-match, post-match and topical Clarets content Subscribe and listen for everything you love about Burnley Saturday's fixture against Derby ( ) is the final game before the new, extended September and October international break and will be the last match they play for three weeks. Walker is torn on how to view the break, whether it provides an opportunity to push on in October should they win at the weekend or if it is a welcome period of respite after a tough start to the campaign. "I think you can look at it in two ways.
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