SEAN Dyche was delighted to see so many of his first team players come through 90 minutes in the Clarets' pre-season double header.

Burnley played National League North sides Alfreton Town and Kidderminster as Dyche split his squad in two in a bid to get more minutes into his players.

The Turf chief went to Derbyshire to see Andre Gray net a hat-trick in a 3-2 win over Alfreton, while assistant manager Ian Woan and first team coach Tony Loughlan took charge of the side that won 1-0 at Kidderminster thanks to Robbie Brady's free-kick.

Gray was one of six outfield players at the Impact Arena to play the full game, while eight of the 10 outfield starters at Aggborough completed the full game.

"It was something we thought about it in the last couple of seasons, to try and get an early 90," Dyche explained.

"That’s why we split them this year to make sure we got a lot of minutes into the players early in pre-season.

"They’ve come back really fit, but players want to lock in that 90 minutes.

"We might mix up over the next two games, but for these two games we wanted to make sure that a lot of the recognised first team players are getting a lot of minutes."

At Alfreton James Tarkowski limped off on the half hour mark while Chris Long and Ben Mee also made way in the second half, but Dyche said all three were precautionary moves.

"Tarky came off, we don’t think it’s too serious, he had a bit of a tightness in his hip anyway," the Clarets chief said.

"Longy came off as a precaution as well, we think that’s a kick on the foot so that shouldn’t be too serious.

"Jon Walters is another one we’re being careful with, he’s new to us, he’s getting used to what we do and how the team operates. We’re being cautious with him.

"The main thing was to try and get the two groups as many minutes as we could, so I’m pleased to get a lot of minutes into these players."

Sam Vokes didn't feature in either game, and Dyche added: "He got a knock on his ankle, it’s nothing major but at this stage we’re being ultra cautious."

The Burnley boss was full of praise for Gray and the treble that helped the Clarets to victory at Alfreton.

The 26-year-old has happy memories of the Impact Arena have scored twice there for Luton Town in the Conference in December 2013.

"He looked nice and sharp, he’s looked nice and sharp in pre-season in general," Dyche said.

"To be honest we made two mistakes and other than that we made a lot of chances. The ‘keeper was terrific, particularly first half."