‘We want to be playing football that wins games’ - Burnley boss Sean Dyche

SEAN Dyche is looking forward to a full week on the training ground as he looks for a response to his first defeat as Burnley boss.

Wins in his first two games, at home to Wolves and Leeds, were followed by a 2-1 setback at Ipswich on Saturday.

But ahead of the visit of Charlton on Saturday, Dyche has a clear week to further embed his methods and philosophy at Gawthorpe.

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And he is looking forward to some valuable time together: “It’s important for me and the staff to further instil the things that we think are appropriate – the mental fitness meets the physical fitness meets the tactical and technical, so we’ve got time to work on that this week.

“But the response from the players has been absolutely fantastic.”

Despite that defeat at Portman Road, Dyche is eager for his players to continue to be positive in games, even if they lose games in the process.

After equalising on Saturday, in looking for a late winner, they were hit on the break, but Dyche said: “The Burnley fans who made the long journey on Saturday have seen a team doing everything they can to win a game, because that’s a big part of what we do.

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“I believe in a winning mentality. We want to be playing football that wins games, we want to be going for wins, and we were probably just slightly left open, which I was not as pleased about obviously, but we’ve had nine days to work with the players.

“They’ve been fantastic in their response to that and the way they’ve adapted to what we want.

“We’re trying to find that mix. There’s a balance to be found.

“They were too open before, we’ve made that tighter but we still want to play and shift the ball through the units and play good football. There were pockets of that on offer.”

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And he looked back on an impressive first week or so at the helm: “It would have been a really good week if we’d won all three. That’s just my mindset.

“So I come away disappointed with any result that goes against us, but you’ve got to balance that with reality.

“We’ve had three tough games in a week and a fantastic response from a group of players, a new staff and a new culture that we’re setting here.

“Overall it’s been a positive week and leaves us with food for thought in how we develop further.

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“But I think football’s always about reaction. There’s as big a responsibility comes with success as there is with failure.

“With failure you have to respond, you have to show responsibility.

“With success you have to manage your mindset to make sure you’re still driving for more wins.

“I don’t think that was in question. I thought the players for Burnley gave another real strong physical shift at Ipswich, and also there was some really good play.

“There were plenty of positives that we can build on.”

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Ben Mee missed out with a bruised foot, with Danny Lafferty in for his first start of the season, and Dyche hopes Mee will be fit to face the Adddicks at the weekend: “It’s a knock so we’re hopeful that will settle down in the early part of the week. It was a near one.

“But Laffs stepped in and did well, and that’s important – that players are ready to go in and deliver performances because over a season we need a whole squad.”

Having had a chance to assess his squad over three games now, Dyche has until November 25th to add to it in the emergency loan window, and he said: “You’re always looking to search for improvement.

“Any manager at any club. We’re no different.”

• The Burnley Express has launched a FREE football app which is now available to download on iPhone and Android devices.