Dyche disappointed to fall on the wrong side of tight margins

A Tom Heaton own goal - the keeper unluckily bundling the ball over his own line after a stunning save from former Claret Jack Cork from a corner, proved the difference.

Another set play had done for his team, and Dyche said: “I don’t think there was anything between the two sides, both tried to play to win, particularly is second half - I think we were on the front foot - and there was a little bit of flatness about both, perhaps that’s all the furore all week for different reasons for both sides.

“Generally the margins are tight, and it was a real soft one again, we have to make sure we eradicate those. We have worked on the training ground, we did ever so well with set pieces at Chelsea, who are a very big, physical side, so it was a tough one.

“There wasn’t a lot in that game, and the margins are tight. We had a big chance early on, and as we know, goals change games, not just the scoreline, but the feel of the game.

“Second half we went for it and tried to win the game, so I can’t question the lads for that, but then there’s a sloppy moment - I think they’d hardly been up our end of the pitch in the first 20 minutes of the second half and they score from a soft corner, so we’re very disappointed.”

Burnley have tweaked their approach to defending from corners after a recent spate of conceding goals, and Dyche added: “I said to the group, we’ve changed slightly, changed a couple of things, I said about being pro-active from your position, and we were just a bit flat-footed, which allowed Cork to get free from a marker.

“If you don’t get the first contact, you have to get the second in the box, we don’t, they get a chance, Tom makes a fantastic save, he then makes another, unfortunately from Tripps, it hits him on the knee and spins back the wrong way, and then it squirms out of his hands, which is a real dilemma in the end.

“I thought it was going to pan out as a 0-0, just because neither team could really find that defining moment, it was just a flattish edge to both sides, still with some quality and good play, some good possession, and both teams trying to win, without that real zip to the game.”

Burnley may have had two penalties in the second half for handball against Federico Fernandez and Neil Taylor for holding substitute Sam Vokes, but Dyche felt they were debatable: “First one’s not, the handball, I’m pretty sure of that, and the second, we value our honesty, Vokesy goes to head it and, in the Premier League, we all know how some centre forwards react in that moment.

He definitely gets dragged around the waist, I’ve certainly seen them given. You can’t guarantee it, but I’ve seen them given.”

Having said there was a flatness about the teams, did he feel it had anything to do with the media furore after Chelsea: “They’ve trained really well, we believe in the energy of the side, it was more of a feel. When we get the stats, I think you’ll find there probably wasn’t, just sometimes you get a feel, and it felt like it was going to pan out to be an indifferent 0-0.

“Obviously we gave away a soft goal and that was the margin.”