England chief Gareth Southgate goes against Burnley boss Sean Dyche in Premier League substitutes debate

Upon Project Restart in June, clubs could make five changes from nine options on the bench, as they completed the last nine games of the season.

But as the new campaign began, the rules went back to three from seven - with the Premier League the only major competition to go against five substitutions.

Sean Dyche can see both sides of the argument, but prefers three, believing five gives the elite clubs, with their squad depth, a big advantage, saying: "I do think it favours the big clubs but they often have a lot more games and the pressures that comes with some of those games and going down the different realms of cup competitions.

"It it slightly different but equally I don't think you can have different rules for some and not others.

"I do get their point and it is slightly different for them because there is a bigger demand on them and the amount of games and minutes that players play over the season.

"I just think it would give the powerful clubs in the division that carry really big squads, it does give them the upper hand. You can't guarantee that but the more players available, the more options they can use, the more substitutions they could make, I think it gives them a slight edge as well as the riches that they have.

"I do understand Pep Guardiola and other managers that when there teams are often successful, the demands of modern games, including all the traveling that comes your way, We had that ourselves in the European season when we had some incredible situations and journeys to deal with."

However, Southgate is concerned players could continue the worrying trend of increased injuries, having seen a number of England players withdraw from the current squad on duty, including Liverpool centre back Joe Gomez, who suffered a knee problem which will put him out of action for some time.

Southgate said: “We were able to make five changes against Belgium – we made four in the end – and clubs don’t have that option.

“What will it take for that to change? There were a couple of less serious injuries against Belgium but what do we do? Wait until we get a load of really nasty ones?

“I have to be fair to the club managers. They are their players firstly, and they have the right to play them as they see fit. What we have got to do as a collective is to try to help the load.

“We could not have prepared physically any better than we did last week. We have given players extra days’ recovery. We have tapered the training appropriately and we have still ended up with a couple of injuries. So that is a worry in the longer term because with no winter break … something has to give.”