Burnley forward Nathan Tella said scoring a hat-trick for the first time in his career feels weird.
The 23-year-old Anglo-Nigerian was in full swing as the Clarets recorded a comfortable 3-0 home win over Preston North End on Saturday afternoon to remain seven points clear at the top of the Championship.
Tella – who is on loan from Southampton, had scored a brace earlier in midweek against Ipswich Town and he attributes that in giving him an extra push to score more goals as Burnley prepare to host Watford on Tuesday.
“It’s weird! I don’t want to say I always expect to score but when you score in the game before, you always have a little bit of an extra push that you want to score in the next game and the fact I was able to score a header was nice and then I think the second goal was probably my favourite goal this season,” Tella said on the club website.
“I think me personally I’m feeling good but again as a team it’s great to have a good result today to give us even more belief going into the game on Tuesday.”
Different gravy 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/ZoarE40vwP
— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) February 11, 2023
Burnley manager Vincent company waxed lyrical not only on Tella’s goalscoring prowess but his overall team play which has been very beneficial for the Lancashire outfit in their quest to return back to the Premier League.
“It has definitely been his week! I think the key for him is just to keep doing what has brought him this far, Kompany said.
“I have no doubt he can score goals, but it’s his work rate and effort for the team and how he makes this team stronger stands out for me
“He scores in training, we’ve seen him score in games but has all the tools, it is not just goals to his game.
“I don’t think I would appreciate his goal scoring as much if he didn’t work as hard as he does for the team.
“He helps us recover the ball, he helps us get up the pitch, his overall game is fantastic for us.”
Tella has now scored 12 goals in 27 Championship games this season, which is joint second highest in the English second tier behind fellow Anglo-Nigerian and Middlesborough forward Chuba Akpom.
Tella also has two goals in the FA Cup where Burnley get to face League One outfit Fleetwood Town in the fifth round at Turf Moor on March 1.
