Dyche is encouraged by growth of his side

Burnley have won their last two home games 4-0, against Charlton Athletic and Bristol City – although they are their only two wins in their last nine games.

But Dyche’s side are slap-bang in the promotion race in fifth place ahead of the home game with sixth place Ipswich tomorrow.

And he is encouraged by what he is seeing: “There’s a lot of good things going on here – sometimes they get masked by having a bumpy ride, that doesn’t stop the work we are doing, it just adds to the feel of it when you win.

“The last two home games, we have been outstanding.

“We’ve certainly laid down good markers at home.

“We’ve played some tough away games, they’ve got to come back to Turf Moor, and we are showing good signs of growing into a very strong unit, and we have done for a while.

“It’s my job to look through results and the noise outside, focus on what the group are doing, and I think they’re going along really well.

“The points total is a good marker. Two years ago we had an historic beginning to the season so it’s hard to match that, but we are going along nicely. I like what we are doing and there’s more to come, I think, though you can’t guarantee it.”

And in Andre Gray, he has the hottest striker in the division: “The main thing is, he’s still learning, he’s come so fast out of non league football, he’s almost been self taught, the secret for me is not to over coach him, which I’m not trying to do, it’s more to stimulate his growth as a player. It’s a different thing.”