BURNLEY may be the surprise package of the Premier League season so far, but former Claret Michael Keane is one man who insists the bright start has come as no shock to him.

The Clarets 1-0 win over Keane's Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday moved Sean Dyche's up to sixth in the table and extended an unbeaten start to the season away from home which has yielded eight points from games at Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton.

Keane, who made the £30million move from Turf Moor to the Toffees in the summer, recovered from a foot injury to face his former side but endured a frustrating afternoon, however he said the way Burnley have started the season was no surprise to him.

"No it doesn't surprise me with the way they work and the message from the staff there," the 24-year-old said.

"They have a lot of great players and they recruited well in the summer. I’m not surprised by it.

"It’s not easy for any team to break them down. They keep their shape really well.

"They are brave, put their bodies on the line. It has to be something special to break them down or a mistake which is very rare from Burnley. It’s difficult but we felt like we had the quality here to do it. We just couldn’t do it.

"They are the games I loved playing for Burnley when you are 1-0 up and defending for your lives. That is what you relish. It’s normal day at the office for the Burnley players and they did well."

Keane was a key component of the Clarets side that ensured top flight survival last season for the first time in over four decades.

His form at Turf Moor earned him an England call-up, two caps for the Three Lions and a nomination for the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Young Player of the Year award.

But the impact of his departure from the club has been lessened with the form of replacement James Tarkowski, who was once again outstanding on Merseyside.

"I’ve seen a few games and spoken to a few lads who have said he’s done really well," Keane said of the man who took his shirt number and the place he left in the Burnley side.

"I thought he did well (on Sunday), he put in a lot of blocks and was solid. Ben (Mee) has done well and been consistent as he always is.

"It’s nice to see them doing well. Obviously I wanted to win but it’s nice to see Burnley doing well."

Last term it took Keane and the Clarets until April 29 and their 18th away league game of the season to secure a first away win, but Burnley's success at Goodison on Sunday means they now have more points away this season than in the whole of 2016/17.

Keane believes the opening day success at champions Chelsea has laid the platform for the improvement on the road.

"Yeah I think that was massive for Burnley," he said. "It took a long time to get that last year so to do it on the opening day gives you a bit of freedom going into the others.

"They’ve had a few other brilliant results away from home as well.

"We knew it would be a tough day. All the lads were desperate to win before the game. It felt like we were really on it but Burnley scored a good goal and then that sort of put us on the back foot for 10 minutes.

"They defended really well, got some good blocks in, they kept their shape really well and it’s difficult to break that down. When we resort to crossing, we had two players up front, but Tarky and Ben were eating it up all day."