Burnley ready for North End

Clarets boss Sean Dyche isn’t taking derby rivals Preston North End lightly ahead of tonight’s Capital One Cup clash at Turf Moor.
TOUGH TEST: Clarets boss Sean Dyche expects Preston to provide a stern examination of his side tonightTOUGH TEST: Clarets boss Sean Dyche expects Preston to provide a stern examination of his side tonight
TOUGH TEST: Clarets boss Sean Dyche expects Preston to provide a stern examination of his side tonight

North End travel down the M65 for the second round encounter, two and a half years after the sides’ last meeting, following relation to League 1.

But Simon Grayson’s side knocked out old enemy Blackpool in the previous round, and Dyche feels the Lilywhites are well equipped for a return to the Championship.

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Burnley’s unbeaten start to the season ended in controversial circumstances at Brighton on Saturday, and while tonight represents an immediate opportunity to bounce back, Dyche is wary of Preston’s threat: “There’s no such thing as a banana skin in my opinion. I think it’s disrespectful to other teams. People said it about Yeovil in fact.

“I’m not keen on the expression. We know the terminology exists, I’m not going overboard with it, but I just think it’s a disrespectful term to most teams.

“You have to be about your business in the right manner.

“You look at the players you’ve got and it’s fair to say Preston have got one of the better groups, on paper that is, in the division.

“They want to go up and contest at the top of the league and I’m sure want to try to go through in the cup, so make no mistakes we’ll be ready.”

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He added: “It’s a great game for fans and players alike, a cup game with both parties wanting to go through so it makes for a good tie.

“I was there for their game against Blackpool in the last round, it was a good game and a really good atmosphere.”

Dyche was at Sixfields to see their 4-4 draw against Coventry City on Sunday, and he is well aware of North End’s striking threat, having played alongside Kevin Davies and signed Whalley’s Joe Garner at Watford: “I know Kev. I know a couple of their players, Joe and Iain Hume who’s a very good player.

“They’ve got attacking options. Simon will have them ready, make no mistake.”

Asked how close Davies was to signing for Burnley in the summer, he smiled: “I’ve known him since he was 16, you see him in a supermarket and everyone decides he was coming!”