Clarets hungry to end season with more points

Clarets boss Sean Dyche wants his players to push for as many points as possible in their final three Premier League games.
Sean DycheSean Dyche
Sean Dyche

Burnley moved onto 39 points with their first away win of the campaign at Crystal Palace on Saturday night.

And while Swansea City claimed a draw at Old Trafford on Sunday, Burnley’s buffer from the bottom three is now seven points, with nine to play for, and a superior goal difference to boot.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Dyche doesn’t accept the job is done, and wants to finish as high up the table as possible, with his side in touching distance of the top half, which would be a staggering achievement for a side universally backed outside the town to be relegated again.

Dyche said: “The word survival makes a story, but at the end of the day, you get promoted out of any division - and I have as a player and a manager - your first task is to be in the division ongoing.

“It wasn’t about survival, it was about staying in the division.

People suggest we’re there, but we’re not.

“We might be, but we have to stay focused and keep working, and we want to keep working.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“My players should be hungry to get more points on the board.

“They’ve given themselves a fantastic platform going into the last three games.

“Go as hard as you can and see what you can get.”

Burnley, in 14th, are two points adrift of ninth place, with two home games in their final three fixtures, as West Brom visit Turf Moor on Saturday.

Asked about the posibility of a top half finish, Dyche accepted: “That brings the focus into the ifs, buts and maybes, but you have to take on the next challenge, so we’ll be ready for the next game, and we’ll take that on and see where we are after that.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Saturday was a special night, finally ending the search for an away win, and the players and travelling support enjoyed the celebrations at the full-time whistle.

But was it special for Dyche?: “I was feeling just like I always do.

“I am special because only 5% of the world’s population has got ginger hair!

“I’m not the special one like Jose (Mourinho), but I am special because I’ve got ginger hair.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Joking apart, I stay focused because I’ve seen matches change so quickly, so radically, I don’t get involved, you won’t see me running up and down the sidelines.

“It’s just my style.

“Moving me will be having a coffee on the way home, I know what it means inside, and that was an important three points.

“I have my inner satisfaction, but I won’t be running up and down the sidelines.

“I try and stay factual and focused and it’s real to me, it’s authentic, this is how I am, boring!”

Dyche hopes the knee injury which forced Stephen Ward off before half-time at Selhurst Park is “not too serious - we’ll see how that settles down.”