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Burnley's Kyle Walker opens up on his switch from right back to centre back Kyle Walker opens up on his new centre back role Burnley’s experienced defender Kyle Walker admits his transition into a centre-back is a big “learning curve”. Despite having played the vast majority of his career as a right-back, the 36-year-old has mainly featured as one of two centre-backs for the Clarets during pre-season. He also started there last week for the season opener against Notts County in the Carabao Cup, partnering Joe Worrall in the centre of defence. While he’s previously played in a back three for both Manchester City and England, Walker admits this is a completely new challenge. “It's been good,” he said. “Obviously it’s a little bit of a learning curve, a different position completely. “I spent a lot of my time with Man City in a back three, but I'm still on the outside of that and it's just knowing when to go, when not to go and trying to pick that up as quickly as possible. “But I feel against Notts County, it was a good step in the right direction and hopefully we can build on that.” Subscribe now for HALF PRICE and catch every minute of our Clarets coverage this season - from pre-season to the final whistle. Click here Walker added: “You look at a three and when you're playing as a three, but you're normally the right back, you can jump in, it kind of doesn’t matter if you jump in or get it wrong because you've got your centre-half to cover you and you can normally, with my pace that I've got, I normally get back. “When you're in the middle and you start jumping in and you're leaving gaps for people to run straight in on goal, it's a little bit different. “So it's been a little bit of a learning curve, but it's something that I've really enjoyed and probably something that was good for my career as well, that it gives me another string to my bow.” In the absence of injured club captain Josh Cullen, Walker will wear the captain’s armband until the midfielder returns, which isn’t anticipated until October at the earliest. Even without that mantle, the 96-cap former England international is enjoying taking on a senior role behind the scenes. “My role is the same as it's been here at Man City and at Tottenham,” he added. “It's personally for myself to make sure that I can keep improving. “As much as I am getting older, I still want to improve and I still want to get better at the game. It's also to pass on my experience. “I've not had a great deal of experience in the Championship, but I've also played in the Championship. “I feel that within the Championship season, with the games coming thick and fast, it's down to mentality as well. You're going to have setbacks, you're going to have ups and downs and you're going to have a lot of highs, hopefully, in the season. We need to make sure that we manage them. “We keep our feet firmly on the floor and we know that the end goal is not every Saturday we go out and pick up a victory. We've got to go again Tuesday and then we've got to go again Saturday. The best thing for this football club is going back to the Premier League and we need to do that as quickly as possible.”