SEAN Dyche paid tribute to the Burnley fans after the Clarets’ relegation from the Premier League was confirmed.

Burnley were relegated despite winning 1-0 at Hull City on Saturday and the 3,000 travelling supporters remained inside the KC Stadium after the final whistle to sing and applaud both Dyche and the Clarets squad.

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Dyche was keen to express his thanks for their support throughout the season.

“The fans have been brilliant,” he said.

“They’ve looked beyond the stories of why haven’t we done this and that, and so on. That’s the media’s job to ask those questions, but they’ve seen through all of that and been terrific.

“They’ve supported myself, the staff and players all the way through. There’s been a shift in mindset at this club for the last couple of years, and long may that continue.

“When you talk about fans, they’re a shining light, because that’s real support.

“It’s hard for them, they get frustrated, but nowadays that comes very quickly and our fans have stayed with us all the way through.

“There’s been no nonsense, no fluff and flannel from me. I’ve told them the truth and they know that. They’ve stood by that, so thanks to them.

“They have been absolutely amazing.”

Dyche did not hide his disappointment that the season has ultimately ended in relegation.

Burnley have become the second club, after Watford, to be relegated in both of their two seasons in the Premier League.

But the Clarets boss expressed pride in the way his players have given everything this season.

“I’ve taken great pride in the players’ mentality,” he said. “When you’re constantly written off, the mentality of the players and the focus they’ve had to take games on everywhere, I’ve absolutely been proud of that.

“We’ve been to some of the super-powers and delivered big performances, got points. Not as many wins as we’d have liked, but overall I can’t tell you how proud I am of the players.

“But obviously there’s a bigger picture disappointment because we all wholeheartedly believed in what we were trying to achieve this season, and unfortunately it’s gone away from us.”

The Clarets kept a clean sheet on Saturday as they recorded victory at the KC Stadium for a fifth consecutive visit, and have conceded 53 goals this season – exactly the same number as sixth-placed Tottenham.

But they have scored only 27, the least in the Premier League, and Danny Ings’ strike on Saturday ended a 631-minute goal drought – a club record in the top flight.

Dyche, though, insisted he had no regrets as he assessed the season.

“No regrets, absolutely none,” he said.

“There’s learning, thought and making sense of things, and there’s things I’d move forward and have learned from this division, and how I operate.

“But I don’t really do regrets. What’s the point? You have to move forward. What’s been done has been done.

“My main clarity of my thought is, if it goes wrong, then you’ve got to know you’ve given it all and done everything you need to do to try and do it.

“We’ve done that, there’s no regrets in that.

“We’ve not tried to shut up shop, we’ve taken every game on.

“If it goes wrong, it’s worse if you have that nagging doubt. But we’ve had a go, that’s for sure.

“Unfortunately in the key moments, we haven’t found the clarity to win.

“Make no mistake, I want to be in the Premier League, so do my staff, the players and the club.

“There is disappointment and frustration, and at the same time balance.

“When I took over this club, it was 16th and jumped to 13th in the Championship.

“It’s in a whole better place now.”