BURNLEY have the quality and camaraderie to succeed in the Championship again, says captain Tom Heaton.

The Clarets thrived on team spirit and togetherness in their last two promotion campaigns - the first via the play-offs in 2009 and then automatically in 2014 - as well as performances.

Michael Duff is the only player to have experienced both celebrations.

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But with that spirit maintained by a strong start to the 2015/16 campaign, and the loss of key players Danny Ings, Kieran Trippier and Jason Shackell offset by the signings of record buy Andre Gray and Joey Barton, as well as the emergence of centre half Michael Keane, Heaton believes they have all the necessary ingredients to mount another promotion challenge.

“It’s a good mix and you need that,” said Heaton. “It’s been massive since I’ve been at the club.

“Stepping on to the next level you need the characters and that camaraderie and togetherness. That can bring you through. Duffo says they had that in abundance under Owen Coyle when they went up.

“It can certainly carry you through tough situations and tough times and tough weeks if you’ve not had a good week.

“It’s something we’ve definitely used and we may need to use again in the future.”

Burnley have scored the most goals in the last 15 minutes in the Championship so far this season, with seven, and have had to dig deep to earn points against Leeds United, Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest, while Sam Vokes’ last goal was a late winner at Rotherham United last month.

And Heaton feels such statistics speak volumes for both their ability and their character, and shows how well manager Sean Dyche does his homework on new recruits.

“He makes no secret of the fact that he does his due diligence not just in terms of the playing ability but what they’re like off the pitch, what they’re bringing to the culture, and that’s massive.

“It’s no surprise we’ve got a great culture here,” said Heaton, who was again an unused substitute on international duty with England, after earning his fourth call-up to the Three Lions camp for friendlies away to Spain and at home to France.

Heaton has made no secret of his desire to earn his first cap, but added: “There are so many positives I can’t complain at all.

“Yes I want to play and I’ll keep working towards that but it’s brilliant to be a part of it all. It’s very good, a great set up and top standard, as you’d expect. It’s an amazing experience.”