Ings still giving everything for the cause - Burnley boss Dyche

Ings looks likely to move on in the summer as his contract expires, but has cut a frustrated figure of late having gone eight games without a goal, his longest drought of the season.

The 22-year-old spoke to a national newspaper last week, saying: “One thing I do want next year no matter where I am – and I don’t know where that is going to be – is to work with a manager who is going to coach me and really develop me as a player.”

And, ahead of the visit of Leicester City tomorrow, Dyche said: “Every player has a freedom to express themselves and he has expressed himself. I have no problem with that whatsoever. It’s modern football.

“Everyone was going on the other week about him being seen on a plane going elsewhere. That’s within the rules. There’s no skullduggery. You could say it’s just being honest.

“He a young man who is working hard. He’s working hard in training, working hard to play and working hard to be in the Premier League.

“That’s all that you can ask - that they are in a positive environment, they are ready to play and ready to work and to work smart.”

Ings may not have found the net of late, but Dyche praised him for not hiding: “The main thing for a striker is being in there and being in there to miss - not just to score.

“You have got to be brave enough, if you are a striker, to be in there to miss because some are not.

“Some strikers if they’re not on form they disappear and they just can’t quite get in there or don’t end up in the box.

“He is still getting in there and that’s the key thing. I was a centre-half and I know how it felt when a striker just keep on going into the box non-stop - eventually one comes your way.”