Thomas’ latest injury update …

Both Ethan Pinnock and Bryan Mbeumo will be assessed tomorrow. There is a good chance they could be available for Saturday. For some of these injuries 48 hours means a lot so we will know a little bit more tomorrow and more on Saturday morning.

Thomas on Alvaro Fernández …

We have a big belief in Alvaro; he is a very talented goalkeeper. He arrived a little bit late because of the Olympics so he had a staggered pre-season. I am pleased that this is three months into it because he knows our principles, the way we want to do it, and the demands we have in his position. He has gradually done better and better. It is, of course, a loss with David Raya but we have a very good keeper in Alvaro.

Matthew Cox and Nathan Shepperd are two very talented young keepers and one of them will be on the bench.

Thomas on David Raya’s injury …

It is a blow. I think he has been a top six or top eight goalkeeper with his performances in the nine games. We are not only 11 players; we are 25. A good team is able to replace good players. I am 100 per cent sure that Alvaro can replace David and do a very good job. Others will grow and Alvaro will grow. We will change the dynamic a little but we will find a very good way to manage.

Thomas on Sean Dyche …

Sean is a manager that I admire a lot. I have heard a few podcasts with him where he talks about the basics and culture. He does everything fantastically with Burnley. They have finished 17th, 10th, 15th, 7th, and 16th the last five seasons. He’s had two top ten finishes with a club which, alongside the three promoted sides, always has a bottom five budget. It is nothing less than remarkable. I don’t understand how he wasn’t Manager of the Year when they came 7th. It is going to difficult, we know that, but it doesn’t matter whether we play Leicester City, Chelsea, or Burnley, we go there with one aim which is to do our best and try to win.

Thomas on Burnley’s style …

Burnley have been very competitive; they should have more points than they have right now. We need to go in and perform.

I praised Burnley and Sean Dyche because it’s not only about the fantastic culture Sean and his coaching staff have created; they also have a very defined style of play. Everyone in that team knows what they need to do to try and win the game. They are very competitive off the ball, pressing very high and very aggressive. They are very aggressive with second balls and duels and are very difficult to play against. On the ball they are direct, not only with the long ball but with crosses. They have such good quality with crosses and have many players arriving in the box. Those are two areas we need to be good defending. They produce the most crosses in the league, but we were used to that in the Sky Bet Championship last year. We will be ready for it.

Thomas on being unbeaten away from home …

We try to do the same home and away. We try to be brave and press high. Sometimes there’s also a little bit of coincidence; I don’t think we should have lost any of our three defeats at home. We should at least have had a draw against Brighton, Chelsea, and Leicester City. What I like is that, so far, we have put good performances in every single time. They are well set up and work so hard. They have that unique togetherness that makes them hard to play against.

Thomas on our Carabao Cup run …

We are now in the Quarter-Final so why not try to win it. It will be difficult because there are some massive clubs, but we will do our very best. Last year we managed to get to the semi-finals even though we were in the Championship and played even more games in December than we are planned to do this year. My staff are so skillful; everything will be planned and we will be on top of that. As long as we are not unlucky with injuries, which we have been so far, I don’t see why we shouldn’t give it a big shot.

I would prefer a home tie, who we face, I don’t really care. If we want to go all the way, we need to beat everyone.

Thomas on making five subs rule permanent …

I 100 per cent believe that five subs will help most teams. In the Carabao Cup you can see when the bigger clubs change 11 players it is still an unbelievably good team. I believe you can still use your five subs in a very good way; you can have different types on the bench. You will maybe see a more tactical game where there will be different changes or you can keep the intensity going throughout the game. I am definitely for it.