SEAN Dyche will aim to give most of his first team squad more than a half of football this weekend as Burnley step up their pre-season preparations.

In a departure from recent summers the Clarets haven't played this week on their return from a training camp. Instead they have been put through what Dyche described as some 'really tough days' at Gawthorpe in a bid to build on the fitness levels they established last week in Ireland.

But the lack of a game won't lead to problems in getting senior players the required amount of game time, with Dyche splitting his squad tomorrow (Saturday) for two separate friendlies against non-league opposition.

Both teams will contain a mixture of first teamers and development squad players, with half heading to North Street to face Alfreton Town, who finished 18th in National League North last season, while the rest will travel south to Aggborough to face Kidderminster Harriers, who were beaten in the play-offs in the same league last season.

Having given his players no more than 45 minutes in the opening pre-season friendly of the summer against Shamrock Rovers a week ago, Dyche will look to get more game time into the legs this weekend.

"That’s the idea, that’s why we’ve done a split game this year," the Clarets chief said.

"We’ve found in the past sometimes you can get to week three and you’re trying to crunch players into games to get the right minutes.

"The idea this week was to split them, make sure we can add minutes on."

After the double header this weekend Dyche has four more pre-season friendlies to get his side fine tuned for the Premier League opener against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on August 12.

The Clarets face Championship opposition in Preston North End at Deepdale on Tuesday and then Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday.

The week after they face a Turf Moor double header, with La Liga side Celta Vigo visiting on Tuesday (August 1) and German outfit Hannover in town on Saturday (August 5)

Dyche said Burnley will take a number of young players with them to Alfreton and Kidderminster, but stressed the result was once again of secondary importance to him.

"If we think it's appropriate some may still play 45 minutes," the Turf boss said. "We’ll take a lot of the young players with us from back home as well and some may get 60 and even maybe 75 or 80 minutes depending on how the games are going.

"That like this is not result based, it’s outcome based. Fit, well, good habits and ready to join back up for the season."

Both of Saturday's games kick-off at 3pm. Entry to the clash at Alfreton Town is £10 for adults, £5 for over 65s and £2 for under 16s, while ticket prices at Aggborough are £10 for adults, £5 for concessions and £1 for under 16s.