BURNLEY boss Sean Dyche thinks tonight's England Under 21 international at Turf Moor will be a great occasion for the club and the town.

Three Clarets are in line to feature for the U21s as they take on Portugal, and Dyche believes the town should be proud of the representation on the pitch and the recognition off it.

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Nathaniel Chalobah, Michael Keane and Danny Ings are all in Gareth Southgate’s 22-man squad and are likely to feature at some point during the fixture against one of the continent's best young sides.

It is the first time the U21s have played at Turf Moor since a 4-0 win over Latvia in 1995, when Chris Bart-Williams, Neil Shipperley, Andy Booth and Steve Watson got the goals.

A bumper crowd is expected thanks to the low ticket prices, and they will be hoping to get a glimpse of the Clarets’ three representatives in the squad, as Southgate’s Young Lions look to fine tune their preparations for Euro 2015 in the Czech Republic next summer.

Turf Moor underwent a number of minor improvements over the summer to get the ground in shape for the Premier League, and Dyche thinks the international fixture represents a great chance to show it off to a wider audience, as well as taking pride in seeing Burnley players involved.

"The ground has had its improvements,” he said, “it's there for people to see, and it will be good to see young players doing what they do for the country, which is excellent.

"We have three players, two on loan and our own of course with Ingsy, and there very good signs of what we're trying to be about.”

Ings received his first U21 call-up in October last year, early on in Southgate’s tenure, and scored twice in a 9-0 win over San Marino the following month.

Earlier this week the striker, who scored his first Premier League goal against Everton last month, spoke of his desire to score more frequently at this level and try and follow former U21s teammate Saido Berahino into Roy Hodgson's senior squad.

Chalobah and Keane arrived on loan from Chelsea and Manchester United respectively on September 1.

Nineteen-year-old Chalobah has represented England at U16, U17 and U19 level, and will be looking to win his 20th cap for the U21s on Thursday.

Keane, 21, played twice for the Republic of Ireland U17s before deciding he wanted to represent the country of his birth, and he now has 15 caps for England U21s.

With three of his squad plying their trade at Turf Moor, Dyche is in regular contact with the U21s chief.

"I speak to Gareth a lot and he's confident with his group,” he said, “he's got some very good players, and added to that is trying to get them as much experience as possible, including the tournament next summer.”

Former Accrington Stanley loanee goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli is also in the squad for the first time.