‘Dyche is a special one’ - Tom Heaton

Some joke that Jose Mourinho is the “Silver Dyche”.

But Clarets keeper Tom Heaton is in agreement that the Championship’s manager of the month Dyche, like the Chelsea boss, is a special one.

After retaining top spot in the table with a 2-1 win at home to Reading on Saturday, Heaton admitted: “If I could write down what the manager does and take it for when I finish my playing career I would do.

“I can’t talk highly enough of him at the minute, but it’s the staff, the recurring message just makes it simple for players, everyone in the squad responds to it, we’ve got ourselves super fit, on top of that we’ve got ability, we’ve got a great balance in the side and a great mentality, and all the pieces of puzzle seem to be in the right place at the minute and it bodes well for the team.

But as you’d expect to hear from him and what he keeps preaching to us, it’s irrelevant what has gone before and it’s about keeping that going and going beyond it and improving and that is probably why it has been so good.

“We’ve had a couple of great results’ but let’s go again and again and that’s why you’re getting a lot of players responding to it.”

Heaton, who almost signed for Dyche at Watford in the summer of 2012, spoke of what the manager is like in the confines of the dressing room: “He mixes it, he does whatever is required at the time, there has been times when we’ve come in at 2-0 perhaps and thoughtwe’ve been top drawer, and he’ll come in and fire a rocket, he keeps everyone on their toes and that is part and parcel of good management.

“He certainly varies it and has all the different approaches, the calm and collected tactical view, but then if we need that motivation from somewhere he has certainly got that as well.”

Dyche has helped deflect the increased media focus on the side, after going top in midweek, and Heaton explained: “The attention has been irrelevant for us, I think it comes with the fact we’ve got to the top of the league, which is understandable, and I’m sure a lot of people see us as dark horses, but if you look at it, we’re making a big effort to focus on our jobs and what we are here to do.”