BURNLEY were the surprise package of the Championship two years ago - even for manager Sean Dyche.

The Clarets began the 2013/14 campaign among the favourites for the drop, after losing top scorer Charlie Austin two days before the big kick-off.

But while manager Dyche never doubted the capabilities of the players who remained, he admitted there were times when they kept surpassing his own expectations.

Two years on it is a different story. After a season in the Premier League there is greater expectation from the outside world; pressure on them to do it again.

But he believes they can learn a lot, and take a lot, from their last Championship season.

“It was new to me. Some of what we did two years ago was always surprising me," said the Burnley boss.

“I thought ‘We’ve gone again’. And it wasn’t that I didn’t have belief but some of the challenges…will we keep everyone fit all season, will we have injuries or suspensions, which we eventually did but we staved that off until we’d more or less done it. How would we handle it and deal with it. All of us are a bit wiser now and had more challenges which usually helps round yourself off as a person."

As well as the team evolving, so too has the manager.

“It’s hard to measure but I’ve definitely progressed and changed and learnt more and have a more in-depth view of what it is here at Burnley and in the greater scheme of football having been into the Premier League and managed in there, because that brings a whole different feel personally," he said.

“There’s the media side, and handling the different feeling of winning more often than not to not winning more often than not. That in itself is a challenge and keeping yourself motivated. It’s the oldest one in the book, who motivates the motivator?

“A lot of it comes from being self motivated and the belief in the people around you.

“You reflect on all those things and make sense of them, but you’re always moving forward.

"I don’t sit and over-analyse. I try to remember the snippets of what I’ve picked up so far, bounce it off other people sometimes - both in and out of the game - and add it all into your armoury for the future and always stay open minded to keep learning.

“I certainly feel a bit more balanced to it all.

“I’m not too high with the highs and low with the lows.

“Two years ago you’re very excited when you get a big result and you ease off when you don’t.

“Now you’re on a bit more of an even keel.

“There was a rawness to the last time in the sense that around this time it started to become a bit more real. Pre-Christmas people think ‘good old Burnley’, at this time it was ‘let’s see if they can do it’. Everyone sort of suddenly starts questioning you.

“This time we’ve been through all that before so we’re less prone to really think about it.

“It’s just performances and training right and doing all the right things in order to win games."

A win at Reading this afternoon could fire Burnley to the top of the Championship for the first time this season.

But Dyche reverts back to his even keel.

“For me it’s more about the performances," he said.

“If you get performances right it doesn’t guarantee a result but you’ve got a lot better chance, and if you keep performing well and keep performing like we are at the moment we feel that we’ll win games, and the more wins you get the happier everyone is and the higher up it takes you.

“We’ve crunched the top end of the market up nicely from our point of view.

“Over the last 10 weeks I was saying even though we had a couple of results that didn't go our way I was reasonably happy with the performance. I think they’ve got stronger, of course, because I think we’ve found a good mixture at the moment, not only with the wins but with the way we’re playing to get those wins - and any point for that matter. Away at Sheffield Wednesday was another good point.

“That’s been really pleasing.

"There’s a lot of work still to do. We focus on enjoying those games but moving on immediately. Straight after the Hull game the lads get a down day and back in Monday and we’re already thinking about the next game."

That comes this afternoon at Reading, one of only two teams to get the better of Burnley at Turf Moor this season, with Preston North End the other.

“It was a really close one at home," recalled Dyche of their 2-1 defeat to the Royals in September.

"They hit us really early with two out of the blue goals that we don’t usually concede.

“For the rest of the game we were very strong, and amazed how we didn’t get something from that.

“Since then they’ve had a topsy turvy time with a change of manager.

“Brian (McDermott) is someone I know and respect and he’ll be wanting to try to put his own feel to the group.

“They’ve been a bit up and down results wise, but I’ve seen some of the performances and they’ve been decent.

"Yet again it’s another tough Championship game. We know they all are and we have the right mentality towards every game."

Some things never change.