Dean Marney epitomises Clarets’ spirit

Unsung hero: Dean Marney clears the danger against Millwall on Saturday

Marney netted his first goal of the season in the 3-1 win against Millwall at Turf Moor on Saturday, which took Burnley back to second place in the Championship - ahead of QPR’s trip to Derby last night.

It was a 19th home league game without defeat - a post-War best - and the former Hull midfielder gave another relentless performance, in a season where Burnley keep on defying the odds as they push for promotion.

The next step on a remarkable journey comes tonight at Bolton, and Dyche hailed his midfield lynchpin ahead of the trip to the Reebok Stadium: “It was a fantastic strike, he was first class.

“There’s always the question mark on teams like ourselves, ‘they’ve got great energy, can they stay up there and keep getting results?’

“We’re happy to answer our own questions, and set a level for ourselves.

“The outside inference, everyone can speak how they wish about us, but we know what we’re trying to achieve inside the camp, and Deano was a shining light of that with his energy and will to play, his desire to get forward, to defend, and he scored a great goal to encapsulate a fine performance.

“Relentless is a good word, we use that as a group, we’re relentless in our attitude in training, in the way we play.

“Disappointments sometimes happen, but that relentless mentality, as long as it’s collective, doesn’t guarantee you a win, but gives you a whole better chance.”

Burnley played out a one-all draw at home to Bolton in the first Championship fixture of the season back in August.

The season hasn’t panned out as expected for the Trotters, fancied to be among the promotion chasers, and they sit 19th in the table, five points clear of trouble after only six wins.

Dyche, nevertheless, expects a tricky task: “Bolton is another one of the derbies I’m told about, I know which one is the number one...

“I’m surprised where Bolton are, good manager, good group of players. They have their own challenges, and we’re aware of the opposition, but we concentrate on what we do.”

Follow @BXSport on twitter!