THE latest Burnley players to graduate to the England squad are the finest examples yet of Sean Dyche's remarkable ability to make good players better.

Nick Pope and James Tarkowski have capped memorable seasons, both personally and as part of a record-breaking Clarets team, with call-ups to the Three Lions' squad for friendlies with Holland and Italy this month.

The duo follow in the footsteps of Tom Heaton, Michael Keane and Jack Cork in making it into the national squad while at Burnley. Not since the glory years of the late 1950s and early 1960s has the path from Turf Moor to Wembley been so well-trodden.

But what stands out most about Pope and Tarkowski's call is just how far off the radar they were. Neither has been capped at any age-group level, neither was ever close to being so. When they signed for Burnley international ambitions were a distant dream, as they were still at the start of this season.

Heaton, Keane and Cork all took great strides forward with the Clarets to force their way into the senior national squad, but they had all been regular fixtures in the England youth set-up. There were files on them at St George's Park.

That is not the case for Pope or Tarkowski. The former was released by Ipswich Town as a youngster and rebuilt his career in the mud and nettles of non-league football. Tarkowski was told he was too small and too slow by Blackburn Rovers as a teenager.

At that point simply making a career in the game was the target. Forget playing for your country.

In October 2015 - just two-and-a-half years ago - England had just completed a perfect qualifying campaign for Euro 2016 and Wayne Rooney had broken Sir Bobby Charlton's goalscoring record, netting his 50th for his country.

In that same month Brentford travelled to Charlton in the Championship. Tarkowski started for the Bees in a 3-0 win, while Pope was an unused substitute for the Addicks. By the start of the next season they were teammates at Turf Moor.

Their journeys still had a long way to go. They were hardly seen on the pitch in their early days in East Lancashire. Instead they were being drilled and developed away from the Saturday afternoon spotlight.

When their time came it was clear to see just how much they had improved, fulfilling the potential that Dyche and his Burnley scouts had spotted.

These were not sure fire success stories for Burnley, as witnessed by the fact they joined the club for a combined fee of less than £5million in deals where the Clarets had pretty much a free run at their targets. The star quality wasn't obvious to all.

Pope and Tarkowski deserve great credit for their own performances and dedication, but they have thrived in the perfect environment - one that allows players to develop and be the best version of themselves.

Six months ago there were lingering question marks over both.

Pope had been thrust into the side in place of the injured Heaton and nobody was sure how he would get on.

Tarkowski had been handed a show of faith as the man to replace Keane, but the summer was spent with plenty questioning Dyche's decision not to reinvest some of the £30million from Everton on a new, Premier League-ready centre back.

Decisions vindicated.

The remarkable rise of Pope and Tarkowski highlights what can be achieved with good coaching.

And it doesn't get much better than that at the Barnfield Training Centre.