EDDIE Howe has vowed to work through his summer break to ‘make his own stamp’ on the Clarets.

Burnley fell at the final hurdle in the race for the play-offs, but Howe feels a summer of change will give his side a great chance of promotion next season.

He has already released Steven Thompson, Kevin McDonald and Remco Van Der Schaaf, and there could be more players heading for the Turf Moor exit door as Howe looks to shape his own side after joining the Clarets mid-season.

He said: “I’ve really enjoyed it here. It’s a big job and a tough challenge but we knew that when we came in. Really we feel that summer’s going to be an important time for us to really stamp our mark on the club.

“Everyone says ‘are you going to enjoy a break now’ but it’s probably going to be the busiest time for us. We need to act smart and get the team ready for the start of the season.

“It is very difficult coming mid-season. You’ve got the games to think about, which are the priority, and then you have to try to mould the team to play in a certain style that suits your ideas, but you have such little time to do that.

“The summer will be a really good opportunity for us to put our stamp on the squad and then pre-season will be an ideal opportunity to get the team to play how we want it to play and to get certain ideas across.

“It’s a really positive time and one where we can hopefully make the changes that we want.

“There are things we need to do.

“We’ve been inconsistent as a team this season. It’s been a mixed bag. We’ve had some really good performances and some really disappointing ones and we need to try to raise the bar. We need to try to raise the level of everything that we deliver here.

“It’s our job to deliver the best product we can for the players and hopefully we’ll improve the players’ performances on a consistent basis.

“We’re excited by it.

“Change is a thing that’s sometimes feared but we can’t wait to get started.”

Burnley will receive £16.5m in parachute payments next season, and Howe will be keen to go back into the market to add to January buys Charlie Austin and Marvin Bartley.

And he has been bouyed by the news that the Clarets have already sold 10,500 season tickets.

Howe added: “It’s absolutely fantastic from the supporters. I know how much they crave success. I certainly crave success as well and I certainly hope we can match the supporters’ expectations next year.

“There’s going to be pressure on us, we understand that, but to get that level of support already is a fantastic commitment.”