SEAN Dyche felt his side were well worth their point in a “ding-dong” battle at Villa Park on Saturday.

The Clarets twice fought back for a 2-2 draw with Jay Rodriguez and Chris Wood on target.

“I think we deserved a point, tight game, as many are in the Premier League, both sides overall found moments of quality to affect the game, with four goals from four crosses, four quality goals,” said the Burnley boss.

“It was a bit of a ding-dong really, they started with a bit of energy, we thought that, I think the stadium saw it as, not a must-win, it’s too early for that, but an important game, and I understand that people often do against us.

“Then they go 1-0 up, but our mentality was good, we finished the half well, then we changed the shape - Corky got injured - and the players delivered that particularly well.

I thought we calmed down the game in the early part of the second half, and the stadium, and we had two or three great chances, that we didn’t take.

“Then we score, they score, and we score again, and it turns into a ding-dong, a little bit niggly and close, a bit of tension in the stadium, which I enjoy, so overall, pleased with a point.”
 

Dyche confirmed that Jack Cork, withdrawn at half-time, hadn’t recovered from an earlier bang on the shoulder.

The Clarets boss revealed however that with his side on the back foot at the end of the opening 45 minutes, making changes at the break was on his mind.

“The change of shape was tactical, but the injury helped us think like that, we thought it needed changing in the first half,” Dyche said.

“They play open, expansive, but loose at times, which is risk-reward, if that works for you, you can affect games, as they did at times, but if it works against you - the number of times we countered, if we’d found the key moments...

“Right at the end, Westy (Ashley Westwood) clips one over the top and if it’s five yards shorter, Tom (Heaton) is in all kinds of trouble with Woody running on.

“It worked for them to get two goals, but, the open side of it worked for us to get two goals back.

“Overall, the mentality was fantastic again, and that’s an important weapon over a Premier League season.”