SEAN Dyche was pleased with his youngsters after Dan Agyei and Dwight McNeil came off the bench to down Preston.

With Burnley's Europa League tie with Aberdeen just 72 hours away Dyche fielded a strong side at Deepdale but withdrawn all 10 outfield starters on 55 minutes, with the score at 1-1 thanks to Aaron Lennon's goal.

But Agyei headed in Jon Walters' cross to make it 2-1, only for Callum Robinson to equalise moments later, before McNeil lashed in an 18-yard volley to win it for the Clarets.

"It went well in general, we’re still missing some bodies, we’ve had to be careful with a couple of and there’s a couple not ready yet," Dyche said of the Deepdale fixture.

"We had five young lads on with the changes, I thought they did well, they applied themselves well. Dwight and Dan got good goals, it’s good for them to get the chance.

"We were hoping to get more first team players out there but we have got to be careful, not just for Aberdeen, three weeks yesterday is our first Premier League game, so we need a collective view, but Aberdeen is the most important coming up soon."

Pre-season has been a balancing act for Dyche, with his players coming through two 90 minutes last week as he accelerates attempts to get fitness into his key men before the trip to Pittodrie on Thursday for the Europa League second qualifying round first leg tie.

"You’ve got to find the balance, we’re trying to get minutes into the players but at the appropriate time, which is difficult," the Clarets chief said.

"At this stage they’d normally be playing 75 minutes, we’ve managed to get two 90 minutes into them already, another 55 tonight, that’s by design, just to sharpen them up.

"I was pleased with the first half, we could have been more comfortable at half time, we created enough."

Ashley Barnes, Robbie Brady, Steven Defour and Chris Wood all missed out against Preston with minor injuries, which has complicated the picture for Dyche this summer.

Asked on having fit enough players for the trip to Scotland this week, he said: "We’ve got no choice, that’s the job.

"We’ll take it as it comes, we’ve been in this situation before. We’ve got to be careful, it’s pre-season and you can’t put everything on the first game.

"We need to make sure we’ve got players who are not just fit for this, but fit for the rest of the season.

"We’re working in the market, it’s difficult as we know. It’s Burnley world, and it’s difficult to get players in."