SEAN Dyche believes the Premier League’s restart date gives his players and coaches something to work towards.

The Clarets returned to training on May 19 not knowing when they might get the chance to play the final nine games of their campaign.

But having stepped up to contact sessions at Barnfield, Dyche and his squad now know that top-flight football will be back on June 17 should all safety requirements be met.

Aston Villa will play Sheffield United on that date, a Wednesday, while Manchester City take on Arsenal, with the two

rearranged games meaning all clubs will have played 29 times heading into the weekend of June 19-21.

That is when Burnley, 10th in the table, will be back in action and Dyche can now fully focus on trying to extend his side’s seven-game unbeaten run which was halted by the coronavirus pandemic in March.

“It’s great news that we finally have a proposed start date to resume,” the Clarets boss told the club website.

“The players have all returned to training in good shape, and we have stepped up to stage two of the training protocol with no concerns.

“But now we have a firm date to get going again, we can work backwards from that point and begin to add some detail into the training.

“I think we are all looking forward to getting started again. Hopefully, the

testing will continue to bring good results to ensure that we can kick-off again.”

All games will be behind closed doors with dates and venues to be confirmed, police proposing some high-profile games are played on neutral ground. For Dyche, football in any form is better than no football at all, despite the change in surroundings players are going to have to adapt to with no supporters in stadiums.

“Without the fans in stadiums it won’t be football as we know and love it,” he added.

“But it will still be competitive Premier League football and that is surely better than having no games at all.”

Some in the game have expressed concerns about the quick turnaround after a period of hibernation, but full back Charlie Taylor is confident the Clarets will be more than ready.

“Training has been very tough. I think all the lads have said the same,” he said.

“It’s going to stand us in good stead. All being well, the season is going to come back round thick and fast when it does with a lot of games coming in a short period of time.

“We’ve got a small window to work in and the gaffer is really working us hard.

“He and the sports science staff know what they’re doing.

“We might only have two or three weeks to get fit so we’ve got to put the hard work in now and if it gives us a one per cent advantage it will stand us in better stead than some other teams. We’ve got nine games left and we’re just desperate to crack on and see how far we can get and how high up the league we can go.”