Clarets ‘full of confidence’ says Boyd

A run of nine wins in 12 games was followed up by six matches without a victory, before the Addicks were thumped 4-0 at Turf Moor on Saturday.

Boyd was one of a number of Clarets who looked more like themselves after what manager Sean Dyche himself described as an “up and down spell”, and the wideman is eager to build on that performance at his former club Hull City on Boxing Day.

Boyd featured in the 2014 FA Cup Final defeat against Arsenal and also appeared in the Europa League at the start of last summer, before joining Burnley for a then-club record £3m.

And he said: “I feel like people forget how good our run of form was.

“It’s only the last few games where we’ve got draws and defeats, we had won nine out of 12 so it shows we have that in us to go again.

“In the second part of the season we need to pick up that sort of form.

“Against Charlton, everyone was free second half and that showed in the performance, everyone wanted the ball and we scored some good goals.

“The gaffer has instilled it in us to do that in every game but it can be difficult at times when it’s not going so well, but Saturday we were back to our best.”

Was it a relief to end a tough period in terms of results: “We’ve had a sticky spell but I don’t think we played too badly. We hadn’t scored for a few games, but the Preston game we dominated and we just didn’t take our chances.

“Saturday was the complete performance of taking our chances and it was nice to win by more than two clear goals. It was nice for the goal difference and we’re full of confidence now.”

Boyd himself has been under scrutiny for his displays of late as he looks to reproduce the firm that saw him named player of the year.

He has one goal to his name so far this season, and he admitted: “I just need a goal. The handball at Cardiff was unbelievable. I was happy with my recent performances but I just need a few more goals. If I can add a few more I’ll be happy.”

Burnley are renowned for a settled side under Dyche, even at what is traditionally a busy time in terms of fixtures, but Boyd points out: “We’re quite lucky that the game is on a Saturday so it doesn’t seem too out of sync, when you get games on Tuesday and Wednesday it seems different.

“Saturday and Monday will be tough, it’s two games in three days, but I think we’ve got the fitness and it may help us in a way because we’ll be running all over teams.”