WE MIGHT only be four days into 2016 but already January has the feel of a defining month about it.

Spend wisely and Burnley can be optimistic about cementing a top-six finish and might even dream of reeling in Derby County.

On the other hand, a failure to bolster the squad with some genuine first-team-ready options will almost certainly consign the Clarets to another season of second-tier football.

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The last couple of weeks have provided a pretty accurate snapshot of where Sean Dyche’s men are currently up to.

Whereas Burnley were able to make light work of the division’s cannon fodder, putting four goals past both Charlton Athletic and Bristol City, they came unstuck when asked to raise their game against a couple of the Championship’s savvier sides, Hull City and Ipswich Town.

Statistics are, of course, open to manipulation and misinterpretation, yet there’s one fairly damning piece of data that says the Clarets have managed just one goal in half a dozen encounters with the current top six – Andre Gray’s penalty against Brighton and Hove Albion.

“We didn’t create enough” is becoming an increasingly common post-match complaint from the manager, particularly when we run into the division’s better-drilled outfits. And it’s exactly this lack of creativity that threatens to derail Burnley’s attempt to make an instant return to English football’s top table.

In wide areas, Dyche can select from George Boyd, Scott Arfield, Matt Taylor and Michael Kightly, yet the first two names on that list offer little more than hard work and a dogged adherence to the gaffer’s obsession with “shape” and “framework.” Taylor, meanwhile, is only fancied for a fifteen minute run-out when we need to pull a game out of the fire, whilst Kightly – although at least willing to run at his man – frequently lacks good quality delivery.

Centrally, there’s a similar dearth of invention. Dean Marney is a fizzing ball of energy and David Jones knits things together, yet neither have the vision to sit off the front two and prise open a tight defence with a single pass. Joey Barton might, but is currently deployed in front of the back four to dictate play there.

Dyche spoke last week about hoping to land “two, maybe three targets” in the coming weeks. A commanding centre-half would be a welcome addition but the priority has to be a speedy winger with a trick or two and a playmaker able to float behind Gray and Vokes with an ability to see the pass.