SEAN Dyche believes Jon Flanagan will have to adapt to a different challenge with the Clarets after his experiences with Liverpool, but the Burnley boss has been delighted with his impact so far.

The 23-year-old Anfield loanee is in line for a first Premier League start for Burnley when they host Crystal Palace today (3pm), with Stephen Ward ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Flanagan has come off the bench to replace Ward in the win over Everton and the draw with Manchester United in the past two weeks.

Those backs-to-the-wall efforts have been a different experience for the one-cap England international, who made most of his 40 Premier League appearances for Liverpool when they came close to winning the title in 2013/14.

“It’s different possession stats, different chance stats, different quality of player,” said Dyche.

“With all due respect, they nearly won the Premier League. I love my players but I’m not saying we’re going to nearly win the Premier League.

“We’re a different level of quality, a different level of league understanding, there’s different levels of experience in the team.

“It’s a different animal he’s into with us and so far he’s done well with what he’s had to do and we look forward to even more going forward.”

Flanagan’s promising Anfield career was put on hold at the end of the 13/14 campaign when he suffered a serious knee injury that sidelined him for 18 months. He made his return in January and has featured in 11 games for Liverpool and Burnley since then.

And Dyche has been delighted with the fitness work he has put in since complete his season-long switch to Turf Moor.

“He’s worked very hard in training to get up to speed because when we got him he wasn’t quite there,” said the Clarets chief.

“He’s done well in the two moments he’s come on. I know it was just four minutes the first time (against Everton), but it’s a hard four minutes when you’ve just scored and you’ve got to see out the last four minutes and you’re thrown into the thick of things “I thought he did well at Old Trafford, in a real tough afternoon. He’s only sort of 40 games in, because of the grandeur of the season he played at Liverpool it suggests his depth is greater than that.

“I’ve got to be aware of that, he’s still kind of a developing player. Not in the same way, of course, but he is still moving forward in his game, his understanding of how we work and how the Premier League works.

“So I’m open minded about what he can do for us.”