James Tarkowski makes 'very different' Burnley admission before Everton Carabao Cup tie

The last time Burnley came to Goodison Park, James Tarkowski was facing Everton and got accused by Gary Neville of making a tackle that “has no place in football.”

September 13 was the date and Everton were on their way to a 3-1 victory over Sean Dyche’s Clarets for what remains the last time they won three games in a row. Tarkowski won the ball with his second half challenge in front of the away fans but also got a big chunk of Richarlison in doing so and while Sky Sports pundit Neville deemed it “reckless”, referee Martin Atkinson didn’t even award a free-kick.

It was the kind of moment that epitomised the player, manager and team at the time. But while the now Blues boss is still immortalised for putting the proud old East Lancashire town back on the football map in the shape of ‘The Royal Dyche’ pub, things have moved on when it comes to on-the-field matters. Under the stewardship of Vincent Kompany, Burnley cantered straight back up to the Premier League this year playing a brand of football akin to what we saw from the Manchester City sides he turned out for as a player than the traditional fare served up at Turf Moor.

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Now wearing the armband at Everton in the absence through injury of club captain Seamus Coleman, Tarkowski is one of Dyche’s most-trusted lieutenants. So as he prepares to face the club he represented for six-and-a-half years as an opponent for the first time, who would he rather come up against, old or new Burnley? He said: “We were a completely different side. We had a lot of success playing the way we did at the time.