Sean Dyche warns Burnley against complacency
Sean Dyche will not be lulled into thinking Burnley have already gained a strong foothold in the Premier League.
As their campaign reaches its midpoint with Saturday's visit of Sunderland, the promoted Clarets are sitting in a healthy-looking 14th position with 20 points, six above the bottom three.
But while manager Dyche recognises his side are coping better than in their one-season top-flight spell of 2014-15, he is guarded against any complacency.
Dyche said: "I always say we're not the real deal. We know we have got to continue to use everything we have got to get points on the board. That's what our focus is on.
"The key word is reality - we don't do blind faith here. We know it's a tough challenge in the Premier League. We are playing some 'Super Bowls', as I call them, then there is a middle group and we're below that.
"We have played some very strong sides and managed to get points on the table against the odds but it must continue.
"You get to where we are now and most people would take that but it's an ongoing thing."
All bar one of Burnley's points have come at Turf Moor but Dyche does not want to over-emphasise the importance of home advantage ahead of their New Year's Eve outing.
He said: "I don't really go in for all that chatter. I go in for realities and that is you can find yourself being unbeatable if you're ready to perform.
"We target every game with the mindset to win, we focus on every game to get a performance that can give us what we want.
"But it is helpful that when we're at home we've got a strong crowd who get behind the team. That doesn't guarantee you anything but it gives you a better chance."
Dyche is without the suspended Jeff Hendrick while fellow midfielder Dean Marney will take a fitness test.
David Moyes is convinced Sunderland can fire themselves out of relegation trouble if his players give Jermain Defoe a helping hand.
Defoe's eight goals to date this season have helped to get the Black Cats back in touch with the race for survival, but until Fabio Borini struck at Manchester United on Boxing Day, only the former England striker, sidekick Victor Anichebe and full-back Patrick van Aanholt, as well as Leicester defender Robert Huth, had found the back of the net in the Premier League this season.
Both manager Moyes and chief executive Martin Bain have signalled their intention to resist any attempt to lure Defoe away from the Stadium of Light next month with West Ham boss Slaven Bilic having made little secret of his admiration.
However, if he does remain on Wearside, the former Hammers frontman will need support if the club is to retain its top-flight status once again.
Asked about Borini's superb strike at Old Trafford, Moyes said: "He scored a really good goal and I am pleased that he has added to our goalscoring tally, but in a way, I would rather when it was 3-0 that he had kept it until another day where it was one which might have really mattered.
"But I still think if you get him, you get Defoe, you get Victor, you get Adnan (Januzaj) - we have actually got people who are capable of scoring and making goals, and we are going to need them to produce between now and the end of the season."
Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has joined the club's lengthy injury list, so Vito Mannone is set to make his first appearance since August.
Source: PAR
