THERE was another indicator of quite how much has changed at Burnley last week when Sean Dyche had just five senior outfield players to work with during the international break.

The Clarets barely had an international in their ranks when Dyche first took the reins at Turf Moor, but the success of the last five years has changed that.

And during the most recent break the squad was decimated, with just the three goalkeepers and five outfield players remaining to train for a couple of days after the win at Southampton, before they were given an extended break as well.

"We had five recognised first team players with us last week. When I got here there wasn't just five left," Dyche said of his early months at the club.

"Times have changed when we have that many going away on international duty."

That in itself posed a problem for Dyche and his coaching staff in keeping the remaining players ticking over.

"They worked hard for a couple of days, had a break and then came back and worked hard again," the Clarets chief said.

"They’re used to how we work now. They know there will be work to be done and they did it well.

"It’s being open minded. We had six training, one younger player came in, and the keepers, but they really enjoyed the session because we made it enjoyable by the design of it. That’s important.

"They’d want to be internationals if they could but they’re not, therefore they know they have to stay fit and we laid on a session that was appropriate and they enjoyed it. I spoke to Ben Mee about it and they said they enjoyed it.

"That’s where your staff become important, they’ve got to keep them stimulated and on their toes."

Dyche added: "There was a time, a long time ago for us, that you could work with your players during an international break because we didn’t have many going away.

"Now we’re left with five. There’s not a lot you can do. With Woody (Chris Wood) coming back (on Friday) that will be the first team we’ve had the group together.

"We had most of the group on Thursday but some played one game some played two, some played a few minutes, the reserve group played the other day, all of that has to combine and come together."

Although Wood and Burnley's Irish contingent suffered play-off heartache during the international break the Clarets could have Steven Defour and Johann Berg Gudmundsson in Russia next summer, and the pair could be the first Burnley players to feature in a World Cup since 1982.

"I didn’t know that," Dyche said. "Johann has done great, he’s scored some important goals and he’s going along nicely for us, he continues to develop.

"Steven is slightly different, he only got a couple of minutes, which was a bit of a surprise but I know Roberto Martinez quite well and he’ll have his own view of where the group is at.

"It’s a story behind a story, the obvious one is results but a lot has gone on behind that here and the internationals is one of them."