OSTRICHES hit the headlines thanks to one Premier League manager this week, but you won’t find Sean Dyche burying his head in the sand as he bids to keep his team in the top flight.

Five points adrift of safety with just four games to go, the odds of avoiding an immediate return to the Championship 12 months after promotion as runners-up are stacked against Burnley.

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Dyche knows it, the players know it. There is no shying away from it at Turf Moor or their Gawthorpe training base.

But while time and games are running out on the Clarets’ first season back in the top flight, and therefore the opportunity to prolong their stay, the manager is unwavering in his football philosophy.

“If you look how we’ve gone to various clubs - but the key ones being Newcastle, Manchester City, Chelsea - we’ve gone there and performed to win, we’ve scored goals, we’ve gone to places and played in a manner that for all to see is attempting to be productive, and that’s productive going forward,” said the Burnley boss, who will adopt the same approach at West Ham United tomorrow.

“We’ve tried to do that all season. It’s not like we’ve kept the reins on anyone. I think we’re the only team in the Premier League to play every game with a 4-4-2, two strikers on the pitch, trying to attack as your best form of defence.

“It hasn’t worked as well as we would have liked. Then you get the question of ‘why haven’t you played five in midfield?’. It’s got to fit your team.

“The margins are tight and we’ve just been on the wrong side of them.”

Dyche admits hindsight has been harsh at times.

“We’re all the best managers in the world after the event,” said the Burnley boss after admitting there have been occasions when he might have changed the system from their regular 4-4-2.

“That’s why it’s frustrating because we’ve done a lot of good things, and we still are doing a lot of good things.”

Rather than bury their heads in the sand, Burnley will stick their necks out for each other in this fight to the finish.

“We have a squad who believe in each other,” Dyche said.

“You have to believe in people whether things go well or not, you still have to believe in what you’re doing as a group, and I think there’s been plenty of that.”