There's more to Peter Crouch than meets the eye, says Burnley boss Sean Dyche

The 38-year-old has enjoyed a highly decorated career – inclusive of FA Cup triumphs and Champions League finals – with a total of 205 club goals scored from 730 appearances after starting his first-team career at Queens Park Rangers.

The former England international was a nuisance when replacing Chris Wood against Southampton at the weekend and applied the pressure that led to Jack Stephens conceding a late penalty at Turf Moor.

“We haven’t brought him in just for that,” said Dyche. “He has got more than that, he is well renowned.

“The people who have played with Peter Crouch always speak about his ability, his way of bringing players into the game, his understanding of centre forward play.

“He is such an odd figure, I played against him when he was young but he draws people all over the place and they end up more worried about him because if they don’t deal with him then they know his record suggests he will take a chance.

“It is a double edge sword, he can affect it just by his understanding of the game and by the fact that there is no one else like him.

“He worries teams and possibly that puts doubt in the players’ mind who ended up handballing it. It is a penalty, his arm is in an unnatural position.

“We didn’t bring him in for just that reason. I think he is a good player, a proper professional and I think he will work with our group as well and I think that is important. The mentality of that is very strong and we want him to add to that.”