MATT Le Tissier believes Danny Ings is the secret to Burnley beating the odds and staying in the Premier League.

The former Southampton striker turned Sky Sports pundit has put the Clarets among his ‘favourites’ for the drop next season.

“Sorry about that,” he said when asked about his bottom three. “Obviously I hope I’m proved wrong.”

He admits there is every chance he could be.

“If it’s any consolation in the last two seasons I’ve only got one right,” he said. “So Burnley have a 66 per cent chance of staying up.

“But a lot of it is to do with budgets and quality of player you can attract to your football club with the wages you pay.”

But while Le Tissier has concerns about the limits on the Clarets’ coffers in comparison to their new Premier League peers, he feels retaining Danny Ings could prove more valuable than any other transfer business.

“Keeping hold of Danny Ings will help,” said the former England international.

“He was on fire last season, scored a lot of goals and looked like a boy playing with a lot of confidence. If he can get off to a decent start perhaps his goals might give Burnley a fighting chance.”

Le Tissier acknowledged it can be difficult to replicate prolific Championship form in the top flight, but knows it can be done.

“People have proved it is possible and have done very well for themselves. Grant Holt had a pretty good first season when he came up with Norwich.

“There are cases, but it is tough.

“Any striker in the Premier League who can get 15 goals has done well,” said the 45-year-old, who scored 102 top-flight goals during a career that was played entirely at Southampton.

He believes Burnley can take encouragement from their last spell in the Premier League, when he backed them to stay up after beating Manchester United in their first home game.

“I think I was the only person who tipped Burnley to beat Manchester United that night, and after they did I thought they would stay up,” said Le Tissier.

He does not expect history to repeat itself against Chelsea on Monday night.

“I think that might be a step too far,” he added.

“It depends though. The thing about the United game was that I thought they took a few liberties with their team selection.

“If Chelsea do that as well you never know. Stranger things have happened in football.”