Quality first for Burnley (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Quality first for Burnley

10:11am Friday 29th June 2012 in npower Championship table By Suzanne Geldard, Burnley FC reporter

EDDIE Howe insists he won’t compromise on quality when it comes to the transfer market.

After losing Jay Rodriguez in a club record sale to Southampton the Burnley boss has yet to build on the early capture of young right back Luke O’Neill from Mansfield, with much of the £7million being put towards balancing the books.

Howe is aware he faces stiff competition from rival clubs for the other targets he has earmarked for this summer, including Jason Shackell, Adam Clayton and Sam Vokes.

And although he would prefer to have the bulk of his squad in place for the start of pre-season, he is prepared to be persistent and patient in the quest for their signatures, rather than rush into making additions for the sake of boosting numbers.

“It’s a very competitive league. You have clubs quite evenly matched all fighting for the same players, which breeds competition and prices rise,” said Howe.

“We are working extremely hard to try and get the right ones in, and I think that’s the key point, to get the right players.

“It’s easy to sign players but they have to be the right ones and they have to fit in the squad and they have to have the right attitude. They have to tick a number of boxes for us.

“It was a good move for Jay Rod to get a Premier League football club and a club where I think he has a good chance of playing.

“For us, it was very much a case of we needed the money so it works on both levels, for the player and for us.

“It certainly goes a long way to balancing the books and now it’s just a case of trying to balance the squad up and get some players in to make it more competitive.”

The Burnley boss added: “I have said all along that you want the majority of your squad together before pre-season starts so you can have a clear run and really work your team and get certain things in place.

“But it’s not an ideal world and we have found it to be quite difficult this summer to get the players we are chasing, for a variety of reasons.

“The market has been very slow and we face competition for the players we want from other clubs, which is only natural.

“Good players are coveted by many clubs, not just ourselves, so we are finding it a challenge to get the players we want.

“But I think it’s worth pursuing our top targets and that’s what we are continuing to do.

“We know who we want and let’s see if we can get a couple over the line.”

But while Howe is striving to bring in the players he wants, he is just as determined to avoid any more Turf Moor departures as he looks to build for a new campaign.

Captain Chris McCann was wanted by Swansea before manager Brendan Rodgers left to take charge of Liverpool, but the midfielder is now understood to be interesting new Norwich City boss Chris Hughton.