Dyche aims to improve group

Many clubs promoted to the top flight often have a huge turnover of players and jettison several of those who got them there in the first place, but Dyche’s main focus is on building a bigger and stronger group.

With Burnley using the least amount of players in the Championship in finishing second, Dyche is eager to add depth and quality to his squad.

There is money to play with thanks to the vast pot available in the Premier League, but Dyche said: “In our world we’ve got that small a squad, it’s not about replacing anyone, it’s just that we need more players. It’s really simple.

“If you’re the average club that go up, say like Cardiff last year with probably 27 players under contract, that’s different, because you are then looking at players who are probably at some point going to replace the players.

“With us it’s more building a group. So it’s not whether they’re going to play or not, it’s whether the challenge of the group can bring the best out of each other moving forward.

“We haven’t got big numbers and a few have gone now so we’ve got less numbers. So we have to strengthen no matter what, but not necessarily to replace people, just to add to the group and add to the power of the group.”

And whoever comes in will have to fit into the ethos at Turf Moor: “You want them to just come in wanting to do well, that’s the key marker.

“The signings we made last year, it’s well documented they did fantastically well.

“It’s not an exact science, player trading, whether they’re paid for, whether they’re free transfers.

“I’ve been in the game a long time and so have my staff and we make sure to the best of our ability we can check out people both on and off the pitch, their backgrounds. We’ve done well with it so far, but it is only so far. Money now comes into it, agents now come into it. Last year we didn’t have any to spend so it was kind of easier in a way because you’re only looking at a certain market, whereas now the market’s opened up a little bit.

“The grand scheme of the Premier League, we’ll still be at the bottom in terms of spending etc, so it will still be about aligning the right types, not just the right players. They have to fit with the model and the belief in what we’ve got here.”

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