Cameron Burgess knows what to expect when Town head to Leeds on Saturday for a vital league game – the same as he experienced last weekend when Norwich travelled to Portman Road for the East Anglian derby against Norwich.

A lunchtime kick-off, live on Sky Sports and a hostile reception for the visitors is certain at Elland Road, where the home crowd will be looking to roar their third-placed team to victory and cut the deficit between them and the Blues to seven points.

But while the big-ground atmosphere might be similar, it will be a change of scenery for the big defender, who said: “I’ve never played at Elland Road before. You hear the stories and you see what’s it like, so it’s another one to tick off I suppose. Hopefully, we’ll put on a good performance and do our fans and the club proud.”

Burgess did play the entire 90 minutes against Leeds at Portman Road earlier in the season, when their £70 million strike force fired them to a 4-3 win, also Town’s only home defeat since winning promotion back to the Championship from League One last term.

The 28-year-old Australian international added: “I hope it’s not like the game at our place. It would obviously be nice to go up there and get three points and that’s what we will try to do. We don’t know any other way. It’s another exciting fixture to be involved in and it’s one game at a time in a really busy period, so that’s what we are focusing on right now.

“It’s a game away from home so we won’t have our home fans cheering us on but we know what to expect from our away fans, because they do it time and time again. They will turn out in their numbers and get behind us, which will be a big boost on the day. It’s still going to be noisy, that’s for sure, and it’s a big game for both parties and the fans as well.

“Like I said, our fans will turn up in numbers and will be just as loud as they’ve been in any other away game. They’ve been brilliant on their travels and it’s not an easy one to get to at this time of year as well. We’d appreciate all their support and we’ll definitely need their backing on the day.”

It stands out as the Championship game of the day. Leeds remain the only side in the league still unbeaten on their own turf this season, while Town have only suffered one defeat on their travels, at West Bromwich Albion last month, and have conceded fewer goals on the road, nine, than any of their second-tier rivals.

Burgess continued: “I guess something’s got to give, hasn’t it? It will be another exciting game, a great advert for the league I suppose. Where both teams are at this point of the season, both going full tilt to win games and do the best they can on the pitch, it should be an exciting game to watch.”

Asked if the 12.30pm start might have a part to play, Burgess responded: “It’s all part and parcel of the league, that’s how it works and we’ll get on with it. It’s not an issue – it’s the same for both teams, isn’t it – and we had it last week. It’s another one to look forward to.”

The former Accrington Stanley player, who left them to head south in August 2021 and is currently 86 games into his Town career, also reacted to a question about the 10-point gap between the sides. “Is it massive?” he was asked.

“Not really,” he said. “Again, we take it one game at a time – the old cliché – and it’s about putting in the right performance on the day, being well prepared for it and going into the game with clear heads, taking that one game in isolation and doing the best we can on the day.”

Asked if the first clash with Leeds was one the squad had looked back on as part of their preparations this week, Burgess added: “There are things we can improve upon in every game really. We look back on every game as a group, as individuals and as units, things like that. Not necessarily just the Leeds game, just how we’ve been going about things in general.

“I think it has been plain to see how we’ve evolved as a team, even in the short space of time we’ve been in this league. Also, the recent games we’ve had in this block of games, we try to do it that way.

“There are things you can learn from each game. The game against Leeds at Portman Road was an interesting one, let’s say, so we’ve been exposed to their threats and what they’re good at, which is plain for everyone to see, so it’s up to us to stop that on Saturday.”

The 4-3 defeat by Leeds was still encouraging from a Town perspective. They scored three goals of their own that day and there was very little to choose between the sides, with many observers taking the view that a draw might have been a fairer reflection of the play.

Burgess added: “We’ve shown that we can score goals against most teams this season. We’ve scored a lot of goals and a lot of good goals as well, so we need to be able to hurt them as well. For us boys at the back and the whole team it’s about stopping them and what they can do to try to hurt us.”

Town’s record throughout the calendar year has seen them record high-scoring victories against a number of sides, starting with an impressive run to earn promotion from League One and continuing in the Championship as they now sit in second place, three points behind leaders Leicester, who are the Boxing Day visitors next week.

Burgess agreed: “Yes, definitely. That’s it, we always go out to win and we don’t know any other way. It’s what we’re built to do as a group in this environment and that’s how it will always be. We have a lot of games to draw experience from, so we’ll take confidence from that, focus on our performance and hopefully that gets us the result.”

With the Christmas and New Year always hectic, and Town in the forefront of the race to win promotion to the Premier League, Burgess was asked if he ever sits down to reflect on how far he and his colleagues have progressed in the last two years since manager Kieran McKenna took charge.

He said: “I guess, when we do get a minute to look back and reflect, there will be a sense of achievement for us as a group. But for the time being the games are coming thick and fast and there’s little time to sit and reflect at the moment. It’s just a case of being focused on the next job at hand and let’s go out and do the best we can.”

When it was put to him that the games against Leeds on Saturday and Leicester three days later are the type Burgess & Co probably dreamt about being involved in under McKenna, he added: “Yes, 100 per cent. You nailed it. It’s an exciting time to be a part of this club and some exciting games to play and be involved in. We take it one game at a time but we’re excited and ready to take it up.”

Photo: TWTD

ArnieM added 18:36 - Dec 21 C’mon Town , let’s do this…..
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ChrisR added 20:30 - Dec 21 Two draws would be just great !
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BobbyBell added 09:19 - Dec 22 'We always go out to win, we don't know any other way'. Great to hear and IF we lose then I'd rather we lost that way than playing for a point and losing. Let's hope we get the win though.
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