Boss Sean Dyche believes wide men will bring a 'nice balance' to Burnley's midfield!

The Burnley boss handed the former Charlton Athletic man his 100th top flight appearance in the victory over Crystal Palace on Monday.

However, despite the milestone, there has been very little opportunity for Dyche to explore the potential of a middle bank that combines the qualities of both Gudmundsson and Dwight McNeil.

The pair have started just 13 league games together since the just-turned 21-year-old burst onto the scene almost two years ago.

The Clarets have won six of those fixtures - starting with the 2-0 success over West Ham United at Turf Moor in 2018 - while adding a couple of draws to that tally.

"Johann is, you could argue, a modern day winger in the sense that he cuts inside and plays inside football rather than outside football as you would imagine the old wingers when they drive down the outside.

"Dwight is slightly different, he does either. He can come inside into the pocket or he can go outside. I think when they are both fully fit there is a nice balance.

"There are different ways of looking at it but at the moment, with the two of them giving us that balance, when Johann gets fully Premier League fit, which comes with time and games, he is getting closer and closer, then I think there is a good balance there."

Gudmundsson, 30, has found it almost impossible to build a head of steam with the Clarets as a string of injuries have caused mass disruption to his progress.

Numerous spells on the sidelines have prevented the winger from showing his true colours, which has been a source of frustration.

And Dyche believes the only way for Gudmundsson to get back on track is to rid the demons from his head.

He said: "If you break a leg, you break a leg and it's probably going to be eight to ten months and it heals and you get fit and you get on with it.

"When you have these niggles, they keep dragging on or they tweak again. They are a lot more fiddly and can be a lot more awkward. They are the hardest ones, trust me.

"I had a number of injuries and your brain stops thinking about it. You need that moment to occur where you literally go out and run around and play football.

"It seems simple but some of these injuries can play with your brain a little bit and get a bit confusing and then you're not sure if you will be able to attack the game 100% or play a little bit guarded.

"Himself (JBG) and Robbie [Brady] are trying to get there and working hard to get there and it will come.

"There just comes a day and you can almost sense it on them. They run around with the freedom you do when you're literally fully fit rather than just having a few niggly ones."