Dyche looking forward to Chesterfield return

Sean Dyche is looking forward to a return to former club Chesterfield tomorrow.
Sean Dyche is mobbed by his Chesterfield team mates after scoringSean Dyche is mobbed by his Chesterfield team mates after scoring
Sean Dyche is mobbed by his Chesterfield team mates after scoring

Dyche takes his Burnley side to face Dean Saunders’ men at the Proact Stadium for their latest pre-season warm-up game (kick-off 3 p.m.).

And while not the sentimental type, he looks back on his time at the old Saltergate fondly.

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Dyche left Nottingham Forest for Chesterfield during the 1989/90 season, and spent over seven seasons there, making 269 appearances, and winning promotion in 1995.

More famously, Dyche netted from the spot against Premier League Middlesbrough at Old Trafford in the 1997 FA Cup semi-final, which ended 3-3 after extra time.

The Spireites would lose the replay, but Dyche said: “I had a fantastic time there for many different reasons,

“I was a young player developing at a real important part of the club’s history, especially the last couple of years.

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“Its a good game for me but a good game for the team more importantly.

“Its nice to be going back, to a new stadium that’s considerably different to the old one, in a positive way, and I’ll be looking forward to taking the group there.”

Looking back at his semi-fina strike, he smiled: “I never talk about that, 50,000 in the stadium, 200 million watching worldwide, score a goal, I never mention it!

“But I’m one from one from the spot, 100% record...”

Dyche hopes to have strikers Marvin Sordell, Sam Vokes and Jelle Vossen available, after all three missed out on the games at Rangers and St Mirren with niggles: “Marvin didn’t make the trip and big Vokesy has a tight thigh and Jelle Vossen has a tight calf. Nothing too serious I’m pleased to say but we just couldn’t risk them.

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“Jukes ended up putting in a real shift and worked ever so hard.

“We’re hopeful to bring them back into the thinking for Saturday.”

Tom Heaton has also been on the sidelines with a finger injury, and he added: “Tom’s ok, it’s more precautionary. It’s really important we don’t take any risks at this stage.

“We got a couple off at Rangers, but it was fantastic for our young players as well to experience playing here, young Brad Jackson coming on at the end - it’s a big part of their development.

“It really worked well for us all round and was a really tough game.”