MICHAEL Duff admits Burnley’s retention of their Premier League status has only made his job with the Under-18s harder - but it’s a challenge he is relishing.

Duff has completed his first season with the youth team but having seen the first team finish safely in 16th he knows the challenge of bringing a player through to contend for a place in Sean Dyche’s side is going to be even tougher.

The academy at Turf Moor is still playing catch up to the success of the senior side, although it has been upgraded to Category Two status under the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) this month, giving the youth and development sides a tougher games programme next term.

But this summer is likely to see another influx of stars to the first team, making the job of those in the academy even tougher, but Duff points to the debuts of teenagers Aiden O’Neill and Dan Agyei last season as a sign of progress.

“It’s just got harder because the club will go to another level now, bringing in more players and spending more money,” Duff said.

“But you can hide behind it or take on the challenge of trying to get a player. We’ve had two teenage debuts this year so there is a sign of progress. They’re a long way from being first team players but it’s a start.

“It’s good for the young lads to see these players getting some football. It isn’t a completely different world; being around here we can hopefully refer to it.

“We’ve stopped to watch the first team train a couple of times so they get a taste of the intensity and the quality and the speed of it. Until you’re stood next to it you don’t understand how quick it is. It’s alright watching from the back of the stand because it looks easy from there.”

One advantage the youngsters coming through the academy can now benefit from is the £10.6million training centre redevelopment, and Duff believes it could be key.

“It makes a massive difference,” the 39-year-old said. “There’s interaction, they can learn, build relationships with first team players, a goalkeeper can say ‘what did you think about that Tom?’

“Sometimes things are more powerful coming from the first team players than anything the coaches can say. Whether it’s right or whether it’s wrong, young players listen to first team players.

“It’s important and it’ll help us to recruit better players as well. With our Premier League status it’s hopefully going to go up a category and the academy will hopefully improve the players that we get.”

But Duff said there are difficulties to attracting youngsters to Burnley given the competition amongst clubs in the North West.

“It’s difficult - look at where we are geographically,” he said. “There are 20 Cat One teams, there’s Man City, Man United, Liverpool, Everton, Blackburn. They’re aggressive as well.

“If there’s a good kid they’ll just go ‘bang’. They’re spending more money than anyone else on academy football. Chelsea win the FA Youth Cup every year and they can’t get a player in the first team.

“It shows you how hard it is. They’re spending a lot of money so it’s hard to compete. We’re no different to the first team. You’re trying to attract players but they get the best ones. We’re trying to find players. It’s not an excuse, it’s just the reality of it.”