THE battle for a place in next season’s Premier League got underway this weekend, but Burnley boss Sean Dyche doubts any Championship side will be able to match the Clarets’ promotion achievement in 2013/14.

Burnley finished second that season under Dyche having been tipped for the drop at the start of the campaign, and they did so on one of the smallest budgets in the league.

That allowed the Clarets to pocket Premier League cash in 2014/15 and although they went down they returned a year later via the Championship title and stayed in the top flight last term.

It’s been a remarkable journey, backed entirely by money the club earned on the pitch. While much has been made of fees splashed out in the Premier League this summer, Championship clubs have also been shattering transfer records, making success via the Burnley model increasing unlikely in the second tier.

“Huddersfield did a bit of a version of it, their numbers are higher than ours were but lower than the market suggests,” Dyche said of last season’s play-off winners.

“They put more money into purchases rather than massive wage bills.

“We did it the first time around on a very low budget and we did it automatically. Whether teams can do it automatically is a big challenge, but the play-offs always give that window, if you get in anyone can win it.

“I think it will be difficult, because eventually (the investment) pays you back.

“On paper it seems easy, you buy loads of good players, stick them on the pitch and they’ll win. But as we all know it doesn’t quite work like that. Which is the marvel of it and why we all love it. If it did it would be a bit boring.”