Burnley boss Sean Dyche still focused on 40-point barrier for safety

But boss Sean Dyche prefers to look at the 40-point barrier as the one where he can relax and see if his players can kick on.

The Clarets sit 16th in the Premier League table, with 26 points from 23 games, eight points clear of Fulham in the last relegation slot.

The Cottagers visit Turf Moor on Wednesday night, looking to build on Sunday's surprise 2-0 win at Everton.

Dyche, as usual, is only taking one game at a time, but his side are in good shape to secure their survival, and a sixth-successive season in the Premier League, despite a start which saw them collect only two points from their first eight games.

After a fine 3-0 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday, Dyche spoke of the situation at the bottom, and whether he has a points total in mind that would guarantee safety: “We just get as many points on the table as quick as we can.

"Usually, historically people talk about the 40-point marker as being a strong marker, and the quicker you get around that mark, in theory you can open your mind to what comes next.

"And we’ve done that a couple of times. Last season we finished 10th and three years ago got into the Europa.

“The first marker is to protect what you do, and we’re on the right pathway to doing that.

“Points and wins are important in the Premier League, we’ve still got a lot of work to do - the players are well-versed in it, but it is still very pleasing when you perform like we did and get a big win."

Over the previous 10 seasons, clubs who have finished 18th in the Premier League table have finished with points tallies of 34, 34, 33, 34, 37, 35, 33, 36, 36, and 39 - an average of 35.1 points.

So, without taking goal difference into consideration, 36 points would have been sufficient on average to stay up.

In the past decade. only Wolves in 2011 (40), QPR in 2012 (37), and Sunderland in 2013 and 2016 (39) have required more than 36 points for survival.