SEAN Dyche might be closing in on five years in the dugout at Turf Moor, but the Burnley boss is adamant he's not the finished article as a manager.

Dyche will take charge of his 229th Clarets game on Saturday at Manchester City and when his side host Newcastle United at Turf Moor on October 30 he will bring up his 230th game on the occasion of his fifth anniversary at the club.

It's been an incredible half decade on and off the pitch, with two promotions and Premier League survival helping to finance the £10.6million training ground redevelopment.

Burnley head to the Etihad on Saturday sitting seventh in the Premier League, having lost just one of eight league games so far this season, but Dyche insists he and his side remain a work in progress.

“I'm still developing, I don't have every answer," he said. "But I've got to find the answer to help my team find the answers, and I think they are getting it a bit more, they're a bit more assured, they have more understanding of what it is, and even against the super powers, they get it and think ‘let's take it on’."

Dyche believes most of his side have developed for the experiences they have gone through under his eventful tenure at Turf Moor.

Scott Arfield, Ashley Barnes, Tom Heaton, Kevin Long, Ben Mee, Sam Vokes and Stephen Ward are veterans of the first top flight campaign under Dyche in 2014/15, but they have all improved for the experience, helping the Clarets to the Championship title a year later and then Premier League survival last term.

"That tiny shift in sport is the belief that comes from going through the fire," Dyche said. "We've had a few knocks, we were relegated, but if it doesn't break you, you're ok, and the players came through and developed and improved - Michael Keane was a brilliant example of that, and there's others doing it.

“Tarky (James Tarkowski), Ben Mee continues to improve, Popey’s (Nick Pope) got his chance - it's a magic part of my job, your future is decided on winning or losing, but the great side of my job, I go home and sleep easy when I see players improving in front of my eyes. That's fantastic."

While Burnley have gradually increased their spend on transfer fees and wages during Dyche's tenure at the club, they still struggle to compete with most of their Premier League rivals.

The arrival of Chris Wood this summer took their transfer record to £15million, but Dyche is aware that they will be judged on a level playing field, despite the fact they're not competing on one.

"The challenge we have is you're judged exactly the same, and yet the playing field is completely not level," he said.

"That's the madness of it, but you don't want to make too much of a deal with it, because I believe in my players, no matter how much they cost. It's a price tag, and they are irrelevant now, because it's whether you want to pay it or not."