SEAN Dyche says his own playing experience is helping his managerial intuition when it comes to knowing when young players – like Dwight McNeil – are ready to make the step up. And he feels the same could be said for Chelsea counterpart Frank Lampard.

Chelsea have a younger, fresher feel to them under their former midfielder due to a two-window transfer ban, after Fifa found them guilty of a serious and systemic breach of the rules regarding their dealings with overseas players under the age of 18.

And Dyche feels former Derby County boss Lampard has used his instincts to make the best out of a tricky situation.

For the Burnley boss, there is no set time frame when it comes to development. He senses when players are ready to progress, and that was certainly the case when it came to winger McNeil.

“Some could break through quickly, like Dwight is a good example. Some people won’t know he was training with us from being late 16, he’d had a year with us – not every day, but a lot of time. The debate was whether he could have done with a loan spell first – but when I put him in, I could feel it, I could sense he was ready,” Dyche explained.

“Kevin Davies was playing at Chesterfield with me at 16, Tim Cahill, Steven Reid at 18, Richard Sadlier at 19 at Millwall, Dave Livermore.

“Management would have sensed that they were ready, and they were.

“I reflect on that, and you get the feeling. Others need more time, it’s just the way it is.

“The game has improved with that, and the Chelsea situation shows it,” added Dyche, going on to highlight the age difference in comparison.

“They’ve been there years, and they’re still classed as young lads, Tammy Abraham is 22, Mason Mount 20, (Fikayo) Tomori 21.

“I was playing at 18, so it’s different how we look at young players now, the Premier League is that difficult, it often is to that level.”

But Dyche feels there is more to Chelsea’s youthful make-up than purely necessity.

“I think Frank has made an informed choice because he worked with a couple last year and knows Tammy (Abraham - the Premier League’s joint top scorer),” he said.

“And then partly the mix of what’s going on at Chelsea, combine the two and, if you’re ever going to get a chance to go for it, he’s picked the best time.

“Expectation lowers dramatically because of the embargo, so therefore that brings more freedom.”

However, Dyche does not expect to see a pattern emerge across the Premier League.

“It’s the risk and reward, how many clubs will lower their expectations to get young players in the team? Not many I think,” he said.

“Everyone wants instant impact.”