Toby: "We'll take second half spirit to Leipzig"

Toby Alderweireld aims to transport the ‘positive vibe’ from Lancashire to Leipzig.

The defender took heart with how we turned things around in a typically tough encounter against Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday evening.

Trailing 1-0 at the break, with Burnley on top, the arrival of Giovani Lo Celso and Lucas Moura, and a tactical switch around, saw us equalise early and take control.

Dele converted from the penalty spot on 50 minutes after Erik Lamela was fouled in the box and having faced 14 efforts from the home team in the first half, we were able to pin Sean Dyche’s men back more as we chased the win. That second goal proved elusive though - Gio and Dele so close in the latter stages - as it stayed 1-1 at Turf Moor.

Nevertheless, the feeling as the players boarded the coach at Harry Potts Way at about 8pm was so much more positive than when they trudged off at 6.15pm trailing to an in-form Burnley side - a feeling Toby now wants to take to RB Leipzig for our Champions League Round of 16, second leg on Tuesday (8pm UK). Remember, we trail 1-0 from the first leg against the Bundesliga challengers.

“We have to take the positives out of the second half,” said Toby. “It shows there is still a lot of spirit in this team. We’re fighting and we have to take this energy, this vibe, from the second half and take it into Leipzig on Tuesday.

“In a difficult away game, and after a difficult first half, we changed it and if we play like that, I think we have a good chance there.”

Burnley's pressure in the first half came as no surprise to Toby as the Clarets pushed forward, took the lead and looked to turn the screw, spearheaded by the physical presence of Chris Wood and Jay Rodriguez up front.

“It’s always a tough battle and in the second half, we did a lot better,” he added. “We created chances and if we were a little more clinical in front of goal, we could have won.

“We looked to play more in the second half, players wanted the ball, we took more risks and I thought we did well in defence as well as we were attack, attack and put them under pressure and (at the same time) dealt with everything that came back at us. It was a very positive second half.”