Sean Dyche has moved to set the record straight over comments he made about Daniel Sturridge last week.

A war of words with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp dominated the headlines in the aftermath of Burnley’s defeat to the title chasing Reds, in which Joe Gomez suffered a hairline leg fracture.

Dyche felt Klopp’s assessment that Burnley’s tackling should not have been allowed was incorrect, insisting it was firm but fair.

He was also aggrieved that the German had failed to recognise an earlier blatant dive by Sturridge.

Dyche referred to the incident as “cheating”, leading to some reports that the Burnley boss had called Sturridge ‘a cheat’.

Dyche had hoped to move on from the situation, which erupted after Liverpool’s 3-1 at Turf Moor, but said: “I know all reporters have a job to do but it was just a little bit over the top this week for this reason, I didn’t call Daniel Sturridge a cheat, I said he was cheating. There’s a difference.

“I don’t know the lad and I’m not remotely presuming he is. I was just saying on that occasion he was cheating.

“That’s what I will say because I think that needs to be clear because I don’t think that’s fair on players.

“At the end of the day people still enjoy a good, proper, safe tackle. That’s what I was trying to say.”

However, it would seem Sturridge has form when it comes to simulation, according to an exert from former Liverpool team-mate Luis Suarez’s autobiography.

Recalling three penalties Liverpool won in a 3-0 win over Manchester United in 2014, Suarez wrote: “I certainly didn’t think we would get the one given to Daniel Sturridge.

“He threw himself down. But it was such a good dive that even I thought it was a penalty. I saw it and thought: ‘Penalty.’ But then I also saw how annoyed Nemanja Vidic was, which made me think that perhaps it wasn’t a foul.

“When I saw the replay, I realised that Daniel was about a metre away from Vidic.”

Similarly, there was no contact from Phil Bardsley when Sturridge launched himself and won a free kick at Turf Moor last week.