Photos: Burnley players spread festive cheer at Royal Blackburn Hospital

Stars including top-scorer Danny Ings, Kieran Trippier and Tom Heaton handed out gifts, supplied and paid for by Neville Gee and Asda Burnley, and posed for pictures with surprised, but delighted, supporters.

Dyche is a big advocate of bolstering links between the club and the community, and he was happy to be able to do his bit: “No-one wants a child in hospital anyway, but particularly not at Christmas.

“Just to see some of the kids and put that smile on their face, if not for them, the parents - there are a lot of Burnley fans here.”

With Burnley top of the Championship, fans are even more proud of their team, and he added: “It’s interesting to hear their chatter about what’s going on at Burnley.

“A lot of the fans are very much enjoying what’s going on.

“They’re not always people who can get to games but they’re keeping tabs on what we’re trying to achieve and what we’re doing.

“It’s good for all at the minute, certainly the team and that spreads into the community.

“It’s important we do our bit.”