SEAN Dyche will keep his tactical options open this season and has hailed summer recruit Jack Cork as a key player in that flexibility.

The Burnley boss briefly switched from his favoured 4-4-2 system early on last season in favour of a three-man midfield.

It was a formation that produced results at Turf Moor but the Clarets struggled on their travels and Dyche restored the 4-4-2 before Christmas and kept faith with it for the remainder of the campaign.

But he insists flexibility will once again be the name of the game in 2017/18 and the transfer business so far has been partly aimed at producing a more versatile squad.

Dyche highlighted the case of Cork, who played in a three-man midfield throughout his time at Swansea City, as an example of that, while Jon Walters can play as a striker, just behind a frontman or in an advanced position out wide, giving Dyche further options.

But of Cork the Clarets chief said: “He’s a great lad and he’ll be familiar to the Burnley fans.

“He’s very experienced at a really good age and he’s very adaptable, he’s come in from a side that plays predominantly a three into a two here, we morphed it a bit last season we might look at that again this season if we need too, but he’s a very adaptable player and he just gets on with it.”

Until Saturday, Dyche had set the Clarets out in a 4-4-2 formation for every game of pre-season, but as the approach turns from fitness to fine-tuning plans for the season ahead he switched it up at Nottingham Forest.

And Dyche certainly has options in the middle of the park, with Cork competing for places with Jeff Hendrick, Steven Defour and Ashley Westwood.

“The idea of building a squad like we are doing and adding that bit more depth of knowledge of the Premier League is to add to that flexibility,” Dyche said of his tactical plans for the new season.

“We felt there were times it worked well last year, especially early in the season, we went back to a two and it was still productive, but it’s having that flexibility.

“The Premier League is very demanding at every level, physically, mentally, tactically and technically, so it’s about adapting to the challenge.”