Burnley boss Sean Dyche expects to see the best of former Brighton midfielder Dale Stephens in time

The midfielder was pitched straight into the Clarets side to face another former club in Southampton.

And as he prepares to return to the Amex, Sean Dyche admits he would have preferred to give him more time to adapt to his new surroundings.

Stephens has started three of the last five Premier League games, but was withdrawn at half-time in the 3-0 defeat at home to Chelsea on Saturday.

Dyche said of his settling in period: “You’re catching up, which is hard, you’re catching up on true fitness, the minutes you’ve missed – he’s done well actually, we threw him in out of the blue when he got here, he’d hardly trained or played for a week, so we can’t expect miracles.

“I think he’ll learn more about us and develop into the side like many other have.

“Ideally, if you look down my history, I’ve often given players a period of adjustment, rather than put them straight in, you’ve seen that many times.

“I think that would have been helpful, but we are stretched and he’s had to go in and get on with it, to do a shift for us.”

Dyche expects he will only improve with time: “He’s a player who knows the division, knows the challenges, knows himself as well, where his true fitness is and he’ll get sharper and fitter."

Asked whether he had given him any insight into Brighton, Dyche smiled: “He said Hove is nice, the beach is nice...it’s usually better weather down there!"