Sticky start doesn’t define the season - Burnley boss Sean Dyche

So while a start, which has seen the Clarets lose their opening three league games, is far from ideal, going into Monday evening’s game at newly-promoted West Brom, it isn’t a scenario which weighs too heavily on boss Sean Dyche.

He is well aware than testing sequences of games happen at this level, and that your next point or win could be around the corner.

Back in 2017/18, Burnley went fourth for 24 hours after beating Stoke City 1-0 at Turf Moor, but failed to win in the next 11 league games, and then fell behind to Everton at home, only to come from behind and take the points, going on to finish seventh and qualify for the Europa League.

It took Burnley six games to register their first win two years ago, and they were 18th on Boxing Day, but recovered to finish 15th.

And last season, four-successive defeats around the turn of the year had the Clarets looking over their shoulders at the relegation scrap, but there came a turning point at home to Leicester, with Nick Pope saving a Jamie Vardy penalty that would have made it 2-1, before Ashley Westwood hit the winner.

Burnley suffered only two defeats in their last 16 games to finish 10th.

So Dyche isn’t getting too carried away with the start to the season, and feels the imminent return of a number of key players will be a factor: “I think it helps when you’ve been through it and had some tough spells, but you have to balance it with the facts.

“You can’t medically change people’s bodies, if they’ve been injured that puts stretch on the team.

“You have to factor that in, you have to factor in the strange short pre-season, factor in having cup games in between and not much time on the training ground, you have to factor in the actual truth of the game when we do our analysis afterwards and look at the mistakes we made and the chances we created and should have scored, but didn’t, the details of the game.

“I try and bring a method to our work rather than just worry.

”If you go ‘I’m really worried’, you’re not going to solve anything. Alright, what are you going to do about it?

“I’m more focused on the what-are-you-going-to-do-about-it bit.

”That’s always in my thoughts as a manager - what are we doing to improve things or keep things going or increase the outcomes that we want.”

One of those players back fit is James Tarkowski, whose statistics marked him down as the best English centre back on form last season, and, with Virgil van Dijk, one of the two best-performing central defenders in Europe’s big five leagues.

He has also had to contend with a summer of speculation, with West Ham and Leicester trying and failing to sign him in what would have been a club record sale.

Dyche admits the close of the transfer window means he can just get on with things again: “Yeah, I didn’t feel he wasn’t fully focused. It’s tough for players, they have a lot of noise around them, even more so than ever, certainly way more than in my day, although I was no good!

“They’ve got media streams, social media, rumours, conjecture all going on all the time. So it’s more difficult for players now, I believe.

“But Tarky is a top pro. He always has been since we got him in here. People forget he had to wait a while to get into the team and he was out there every day doing it and he’s still doing it now.

“I’m sure he’s focused and committed to what’s going on here now. It’s probably helpful to close the window down to clear up any situations that are spinning around on the outside, the noise as I call it.

“He’s a top pro and a top player in my opinion.”