Burnley

Sean Dyche: 'It's time for Burnley players to step up'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 10 August 2015

Sean Dyche believes that losing the likes of Danny Ings and Kieran Trippier will only act as a positive for other players in the squad to blossom this season.

Burnley boss Sean Dyche has challenged his players to step up to the plate following the loss of key names this summer.

Danny Ings, Kieran Trippier and Jason Shackell all moved on following the Clarets' top-flight relegation.

However, after seeing new full-back Tendayi Darikwa and Sam Vokes link up well on the opening day against Leeds United, Dyche is confident that he has adequate replacements within his current squad.

"The big thing is it allows room for real growth in players, to be the man who makes the difference," he is quoted as saying by the Lancashire Telegraph. "Some players sit and wonder, and when the opportunity opens up, they step in quickly. That happened at Watford with Troy Deeney.

"I was at a fans' meeting, and Marvin Sordell had just been sold for £3m, and they said 'Who's going to get the goals?' and Troy said 'I'll tell you who, me!'. He's never looked back since. I told the players this story, you could see it in his eyes, and that kind of thinking can break down barriers very quickly.

"Vokesy did it two years ago, everyone was going 'bit-part, comes off the bench', a year later 'he's different class'. The next one has to be allowed to do that, and the gaps that sometimes open up in the system, players have to take that chance. It can be anyone. There's a lot of good mixtures in the camp."

Burnley, who drew 1-1 against Leeds on the weekend, are back in action on Tuesday night with an away trip to Port Vale in the League Cup.