Boyd prepared for life in Championship

The Clarets will be among the favourites to win promotion back to the Premier League, as they look to bounce back at the first attempt.

But, after a season where they were underdogs in virtually every game, winning seven times in 38 league outings – including two of the last three – the expectation levels change.

Boyd won promotion from the Championship with Hull City in 2013, and is fully prepared for what lies in store: “Your mindset changes because you’re expected to go and win.

“But we’ve got a lot of players who have been promoted, so we’ll have that experience to take into it, and use it to our benefit when we’re going into games that we’re expected to win next season.”

Another difference is the increase of fixtures, rising from 38 to 46 league games, marking the Championship out as one of the toughest divisions in Europe.

Boyd feels Burnley’s renowned fitness will come to the fore: “It’s ruthless.

“With our fitness levels it won’t be a problem, but it will be weird playing all the time and it’s an extra couple of games at the end of the season.

“But I think it will benefit us massively. It will suit us to the ground because I think you’ll find when we did play games close together in the Premier League, we played our best football because we were playing on a consistent run of games.”

The Clarets will also be there to be shot at, having been relegated from the Premier League, but Boyd countered: “It’s good. We’re expected to get promoted, so bring it on!

We know what the Championship’s like, it’s a long, hard slog, but we’ll be confident of going straight back up.”