Dyche disappointed with 'weak-willed' Clarets

It was a performance not usually associated with a Dyche side, as a three-game unbeaten run came to an abrupt end.

The Clarets were behind after four minutes, and the game was out of sight at half-time, trailing 3-0.

You would probably have to go back to Burnley's last trip to The Hawthorns, and another 4-0 defeat, for a performance as poor.

And Dyche said: "We were miles off it.

"It's a real head scratcher for us because they've been terrific in training all week.

"There's been a real good feel about us coming back from the internationals, so I was really surprised with the first half, miles off what we do.

"We got drunk on the ball, tried to overplay, no real fizz or tempo...Tony (Pulis) never hides what his teams do, he believes in organisation, and they were miles stronger than us in all departments first half.

"They got a little break for the first goal, but we just looked weak willed and happy to pass it around without ever affecting it.

"We did slightly better second half. The game's gone, obviously, by then, we did marginally better second half."

Burnley have now taken one point from five away games, and have shipped at least three goals on every trip, bar the goalless draw at Old Trafford: "We're learning a lot about the group, because it is a different group. Our home form has been good, and strong, even in games that have gone against us.

"There's been two real ones away from home where we've been miles off, at Southampton and this one, Chelsea were just too strong, Leicester we had a bad six or seven minutes, and we hung on for dear life at Man U.

"I know what our group is, I know it's got to learn and adapt, I'm not too despondent with it, but obviously we've got to correct going into games and delivering a better performance than that.

"If you don't get a foothold away from home, it's very, very tough at this level.

"Sometimes you have to park it as a manager, everyone knows these lads generally give us everything, and it's very rare we look like that.

"I don't want to overthink it for ever, but it's fair to say we normally have a lot more fight and bite than that performance."

For the first time this season Burnley were outrun, by 5k, but Dyche accepted: "It wouldn't surprise me, we were out-everything in the first half.

"I wouldn't worry about out-ran. I don't think that's relevant.

"Second half we were marginally better.

"It's a head scratcher for me. I broke my leg here when I was seventeen, and it nearly finished my career.

"It didn't, and I'm sitting here as a Premier League manager so I can't cry it in too much, but I've never had a result here since that day, and I'm not superstitious, but sometimes even I wonder when my team turns in a performance like that."

Burnley were almost out-Burnley-d, and he added: "I just think they delivered what they do and we didn't deal with that or deliver what we do.

"We obviously let our players know how they play, Tony has a good format and he believes in it, and they delivered that without a shadow of a doubt, but sometimes a lot is made of a team's ups and downs.

"I look at the group they've got and there's some really good players there, really experienced, manly group, and we still are that mixed bag, still finding our feet.

"I've got to measure that as well as I can, but that doesn't go beyond a team that looks like my team, and, first half in particular, that didn't look like the teams I put together.

"I thought Barnesy did well, he was a shining light when he came on, and he did well in the last game when he came on, but it was just trying to change the feel of it. I could have changed lots of different situations, but you've only got three and it's a risk if you make them all at once.

"The game was gone at half-time, simple as that, second half we needed to get more looking like us, and we slightly did without being great, but we at least made a game of it, whereas first half we didn't."

Burnley have had success at home with a 4-1-4-1 system, but it hasn't been as effective away, and Dyche mused: "We've got to be flexible me with our thinking, I've learned a lot about my players again tonight, more in fact, certain things have really confirmed the thoughts I had, and my staff, so we'll look to learn from that how we put a team together, particularly away from home."