CHARLIE Taylor believes he is ‘learning every day’ after relishing his first taste of Premier League football.

The left-back has been thrown in at the deep end for the Clarets since replacing the injured Stephen Ward during the win over Stoke, with his first five top flight starts including games against Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool.

But the 24-year-old has acquitted himself well and insists he has learnt plenty from his first Premier League action as he deals with the step up in quality after a £4.8million summer switch from Leeds United.

“I’m enjoying it. Obviously it’s my first chance in the Premier League so I’m learning every day,” Taylor said.

“It’s been a tough run of fixtures but we’ve shown that we can more than match these top sides and we’ve been unfortunate not to take more points.”

Taylor made 93 Championship appearances for Leeds before moving to Turf Moor, and asked for the differences between the first and second tier, he said: “The standard, the quality, the players you face. One week you’re up against Juan Mata the next it’s Sadio Mane so the level of quality is so much higher. You can’t switch off for a second.”

Taylor has been deputising for the injured Ward after earning plenty of praise from Sean Dyche while he was out of the team, with the Burnley boss regularly highlighting the York-born defender’s improvement on the training ground.

Now Taylor has been handed his chance to impress and he can take heart from Phil Bardsley’s run in the team on the opposite side, with the former Manchester United man doing enough to keep his place after getting a chance when Matt Lowton was injured.

“It’s down to the individuals. It’s up to you. If you play well then you’re going to put thoughts in to the gaffer’s mind and give him a decision to make. It’s all about playing well really,” Taylor said of the possibility of keeping his place when Ward returns.

Despite a New Year’s Day defeat to Liverpool at Turf Moor the Clarets remain in seventh in the Premier League, and Taylor is setting his sights on staying there throughout the second half of the campaign.

“It just shows how high we’ve set the bar but we want to continue, push on and still be seventh come the end of the season,” he said.

“We’ve got to remain in the top half of the table and see where we go game by game. Hopefully we’ll still be up there come the end of the season.”

Burnley looked set for a point against the Reds until Ragnar Klavan’s injury time strike denied them, and Taylor added: “It’s a real tough one to take after getting back in to the game the way that we did.

“It shows how far we’ve come really to be absolutely gutted about losing so narrowly to a top four side. It was a game that we felt we should’ve got something from.

“We’re absolutely gutted not to have taken something from it. We’ve shown that we can more than match these teams and go toe-to-toe with the so-called ‘top six’ of the league.”

It was a second game in three days for Burnley over the festive period, but Taylor felt that schedule didn’t have an impact.

“The gaffer’s really big on fitness and we all really benefit from what we do in pre-season, he really works us hard, and that helps us in games like this,” he said.

“It’s more in your head, psychologically. Once you get your head around the fact that it is only two games in three days you’re alright. I think we proved that.”