Dyer grateful for Clarets opportunity

The 26-year-old sank Sean Dyche’s men with the only goal of the game at the Liberty Stadium as Swansea City joined Chelsea at the Premier League summit.

Amid celebrations, Dyer, who was brought in by Steve Cotterill during the 2005/06 campaign, spared a moment to praise the Clarets.

“Burnley were my team when I was 17 and I’ve got a lot of love for them,” he said. “Hopefully they can do well.

“I’ll always be massively grateful for the opportunity. The first league game I played was for Burnley and I’m grateful that they gave me the chance. They helped me come through as a footballer so I’ll always have gratitude for them.”

Dyer arrived from Southampton and made his debut in a 2-1 win against Millwall at Turf Moor in which he scored. And he’s come a long way since - celebrating his 100th Premier League appearance in the Swans’ victory over the Clarets at the Liberty Stadium.

Rooting for the Clarets to stay up, Dyer said: They’ve got good players but it’s always hard when you first come up. I think we got beat 5-0 against Manchester City. It’s going to be a hard year but I’m sure they can stay up.

“They came up before and went straight back down but I’m sure they’ve got more ammunition this time. They know what it’s like in the Premier League so I’m sure they can stay up. One of the boys - Michael Duff - was there when I was at Burnley so I was pleased to see him.”