Vincent Kompany has admitted he made a selection error in Burnley’s Friday night defeat to Watford.

The Clarets lost 1-0 at Vicarage Road courtesy of a Tom Cleverley goal on the stroke of half time.

Despite the hosts going down to 10 men in the latter stages, Kompany’s side were unable to find their way back into earning a result from the game.

Jack Cork was left out of the side as the only change made to Burnley’s previous game, having been replaced by new signing Manuel Benson.

But the Belgian has admitted that the team needed their captain during the game, as he could have improved the side’s performance.

Samuel Bastien moved alongside Josh Cullen in midfield, but Burnley struggled to gain any control of the game and even failed to earn a shot on target in the opening 45 minutes.

"We have seven games in 22 days and at the beginning we thought we would have a little bit more possession in the first half," said Kompany, via LancsLive.

"With Bastien, Josh (Cullen) and Browny we thought, because we lacked goals, we could recover a more offensive midfield but the game wasn't like this. 

“We were getting run over and we needed Corky to sort it out and he did a massive job for us. 

“And that enabled us in the second half to become a better team."

The defeat was the first of Kompany’s reign in charge of the squad, having earned four points from the club’s opening three games of the Championship season.

Up next for the Clarets is the midweek visit of Hull City to Turf Moor, with the two sides set to meet on August 16.

The Verdict

It is an honest admission from Kompany to claim that he got his selection wrong.

It is still early days for him at Burnley, and with the squad seeing so many changes it may take time before a consistent starting lineup is found.

These types of growing pains are only natural for what has been a huge overhaul at the club over the summer.

There have still been promising signs up to now that progress will be made, but the first half performance on Friday night in particular was quite the setback for the former defender.