SEAN Dyche believes the speed at which his players adapted to life in the Premier League played a crucial part in the Clarets staying up.

Burnley were the only one of the three teams promoted from the Championship 12 months ago to secure top flight safety, with Middlesbrough and Hull both making immediate returns to the second tier.

Dyche believes that shows how tough it is for teams coming up to survive and that recruitment is only half the battle.

At the beginning of this season most of the Burnley squad were light on Premier League experience, but Dyche believes they learnt to deal with the different challenges quickly, giving them an advantage in the battle to beat the drop.

“The marker this year is that the other two have come back. I don’t know the stats year on year on how many stay up,” Dyche said of making the step up into the Premier League.

“It’s very tough. The jump is not just signings, that’s a valid part and it’s exaggerated more in the Premier League, but it’s also the players you’ve got and how quickly can they understand what it is in the Premier League, the feeling of being in the league and being assured enough to deliver a performance.

“Every game is a big game, not just the physicality of a big stadium, but the build-up, the feel, the coverage, every part of it is a big concern. That is a shift in mentality, if your players can handle that that’s a good start.”

Dyche was pleased that his squad showed they were able to cope, but the Burnley boss admitted he was keen to bring in more players than they managed to in the summer transfer window last time around.

“We were hoping to do more business, without a shadow of a doubt,” the Clarets chief said of last summer’s window.

“The hardest thing for us is getting recognised performers in the Premier League because the wages are so high. The fees we’ve had a go at, and we’ve pushed our wages on, but we’re finding it hard to compete with your Bournemouth’s and your Middlesbrough’s.

“We are what we are, I manage what we are, I don’t worry about what we’re not.

“The thing I’m pleased with is how many managerial changes have been made just to get a shot in the arm, yet we’ve still kept performing, still got the points on the board and seen all through that.”