SEAN Dyche is expecting another difficult transfer window in January but he said there is already plenty of work going on behind the scenes to try and strengthen his Burnley side.

But the Clarets chief has no intention of adding too many more to his Turf Moor squad, insisting he prefers to work with a smaller number of players who are all close to first-team action.

Dyche and the Burnley board had to be patient in the summer before concluding two club record deals in the final two weeks of the transfer window, bringing in Steven Defour from Anderlecht for £7.5million and Jeff Hendrick from Derby County for £10million.

A deal for Poland winger Kamil Grosicki collapsed in the final hours of deadline day, and while a return for the Rennes man is not on the cards, a pacey wide player could be on the agenda in the New Year, although Dyche is expecting another tough window.

“We work with a low squad number, I quite like that and want the competitive nature of everyone more or less being on the edge of being involved,” he said. “There's a challenge to that with injuries and suspensions.

“Some of it is balancing finance as well and aligning the right players, and it was difficult in the last window and I’m sure it will be difficult in January

“There’s plenty of work going on behind the scenes to see what we can affect and what we need.

“There’s loads of work to be done, we know that, with the group we’ve got and whether we can affect it in January with another new look and affect it from outside coming into the building.”

Dyche has steered Burnley to a flying start in the Premier League, with the Clarets sitting ninth after four wins their opening 11 Premier League fixtures.

But he doesn’t think that will have strengthened his case for extra investment in January.

“It doesn’t work like that here,” he said. “The board are well aware of the challenges and what we need. It’s an ongoing process, it’s not just we're here now let’s do that.

“We can’t use that as a short term fix every time a window comes around. There has to be a longer term view and continually working to help players develop and the team develop through that. If we can add to that we do.”