Burnley captain Ben Mee looking forward to seeing Turf Moor full again

And he feels having the Burnley fans back in Turf Moor will make a big difference.

Home form suffered throughout the Premier League last season, behind closed doors, with the Clarets only winning four times at Turf Moor, while they ended the season without a win in 11 home games in all competitions, stretching back to the 3-2 victory over Aston Villa at the end of January.

But with restrictions eased and grounds expected to be full again, Mee - celebrating a decade with the club this week - believes Turf Moor can become a fortress again.

A crowd of 3,500 Burnley fans were allowed in for the last home game against Liverpool, on a emotional night, and Mee is excited to see a packed out home support this season roaring the team on: “I can’t say how excited I am to get people back.

“The Euros have given a bit of a taste of having fans back and how much that means.

“Having 3,500 at Turf Moor for the Liverpool game was brilliant and gave us a good buzz.

“I am really excited to start the season and get that first game underway, hopefully all being well and fingers crossed, at a packed Turf Moor.

“Fans behind us at Turf Moor will hopefully bring back that 'tough place to come mentality' and we can use that to our advantage.”

Burnley open the season at home to Brighton on August 14th, with the Clarets opening their pre-season schedule at Oldham on Saturday.

After just over a week since returning to training, Mee is impressed with the condition the squad are already in: “The lads have come back the best I have seen.

“Everyone has been putting the work in in the off-season, definitely.

”Everyone is doing the running and looking really good.

“That's exciting and we all are raring to go.”

Burnley only had two points after seven games last season, with Mee missing the start of the campaign as he recovered from injury, and he knows that can’t happen again: “That's definitely a priority to get points under our belts early on and get off to a good start.

”We don't want to be relying on a good second half of this season.

“We want to get off to a good start and work from there.

“We have got plenty of experience and we are always optimistic, enthusiastic of where we can go in the season and it's no different this season.”