SKIPPER Tom Heaton believes Burnley are wiser to the challenges of the Premier League than they were two years ago.

And the Clarets No 1, who is a battling a minor calf injury to be fit for Sunday’s trip to Southampton, believes the side have added new ‘strings to their bow’ in a bid to adapt to life in the top flight.

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Two years ago Burnley fell just short of a second successive season in the Premier League, but Heaton insists the squad have learnt from that experience.

Crucially they have also altered things tactically, moving from 4-4-2 to a three-man midfield for the past three games.

And that is a move Heaton believes is paying off.

“I think we’re wiser to it,” he said of the top flight. “We’ve learnt what it’s about.

“You need to able to handle the ball at times and take the pressure off from defending, which we can do but you don’t want to defend for 90 minutes. That’s one of the big learners.” At this stage of the Premier League season two years ago Burnley had scored just three times and taken four points, compared to the five goals and seven points they have this time around.

The Burnley skipper believes they have greater firepower to threaten top flight defences this time around, as well as having a tactical flexibility to deviate from the formation that earned them so much success in the Championship.

“I think (we have more firepower),” Heaton added. “That and maybe more options to do slightly different things. We’re looking to build and improve all the time.

“We’ve got a few different strings to the bow and the Arsenal game was a good showcase of that.

“We’re learning all the time and we’re improving all the time and that was another highlight of it. Our defending was superb and that foundation that the team is built on has always been a key factor for the manager.

“That starts with Vokesy up top and he’s worked tirelessly. The pleasing thing is the transition in to building some offensive play.”

Two years ago it was the slow start that cost the Clarets as they had to wait until game number 11 and November 8 for a first league victory of the season.

So getting off to a faster start this time around was considered essential, and with wins over Liverpool and Watford it has been achieved.

“It’s one of the things we highlighted, to try and come out a bit faster,” said Heaton. “We’ve got two wins on the board, that was important for us, and it was two excellent wins.

“There’s excitement around. We could be stood here with more points on the board, we’re not, we’ve got seven, we’re doing alright and we’re still building and improving.”