Burnley player’s recovery ahead of schedule, but ‘won’t force his body’ like he did before

“If I’m really optimistic, I’d say about 5% maximum”.

Those words were uttered by Steven Defour on March 23rd when discussing his chances of making Roberto Martinez’s squad for the World Cup.

Fast forward pretty much a month to the day, and the Burnley midfielder feels a bit more optimistic, and by a bit, we mean the smallest of amounts.

Speaking to DH, Defour was asked if that percentage had changed, and it has.

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He said: “Go on, let’s say 6-7% now. I’m a bit ahead of my schedule, but I won’t force my body like I did before, especially after I broke my foot or tore a muscle. I want to play until I’m 35. I won’t skip anything”.

Despite a burning desire to go to Russia with his national teammates, the Burnley star isn’t sat around hoping they get injured just so that he can take their spot.

Instead, he’ll be the first one to send them good luck messages if he has to stay home and watch them from his sofa.

With the likes of Marouane Fellaini and Vincent Kompany thinking about retiring from international football after the World Cup, Defour isn’t quite there yet, and, who knows, might even make the Euro 2020 squad.