“The position we’re in at the minute is quite healthy,” he told Premier League Productions, “in that we think we could be in a better position, but we’re so far away from the relegation zone at the moment that with the last 15 or 16 games left we can push on and see where we can finish.
“There’s been quite a few years since I’ve been here when at this stage of the season we’ve been a lot closer to the relegation zone which is quite difficult. There’s so many good teams in this league that once you’re bogged down there, it can be quite difficult to get away from.
“We want to be looking up and pushing to see who we can chase in front of us. We need to be positive and looking forward, seeing if we can get into that top-half.
“It’s something we’ll all be trying to achieve.”
Dann highlighted the danger posed by Burnley, both defensively and going forwards.
“We’ve played lots of times against Burnley,” he said, “and we’ve had some good results and some difficult results along the way.
“It’s probably different to playing Leeds on Monday night, but I think everyone talks about that old-fashioned way, but they’ve played some good football in recent games we’ve had against them. It’s not like they’re totally one-dimensional; they’ve got some quality players and like every other Premier League game it’s going to be a difficult one.
“One thing is for sure every time you play them: You’ll have a difficult game. They defend really well, they’ve picked up a lot of good results, including some big wins away from home against Liverpool and teams like that.
“So they’re on a high, and they will be coming here full of confidence. But it’s on us to make sure that we’re ready, and hopefully we’ll get a reaction that we’re looking for come Saturday.”
Burnley have had a consistent defensive pairing this season with club stalwarts Ben Mee and James Tarkowski, something which Palace have been unable to achieve due to injuries.
“They’ve played together now for a lot of seasons, a lot of games,” Dann said, “and when they play together, Burnley seem to get results. It gives them a platform to get results.
“Anyone will tell you a consistent defensive unit…does help, but that’s no excuse. We’ve got lots of quality players here. It’s never easy missing quality players, so we’d like to have them back as soon as possible, but we’ve got enough fit people in the squad to go on and win these games so that’s what you have to go and do.
“I’m always ready to play. I hadn’t played a match for a month prior to the Wolves game, and then I played three in a week. So it’s important you stay professional when you’re not playing.
“The manager knows the people that he’s putting in the team are capable of doing the job that he asks.”
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