SEAN Dyche hailed his stars at both ends of the pitch after Burnley kept up their push for Europe with victory at West Ham.

Jay Rodriguez’s 10th goal of the season proved decisive in the 1-0 win at the London Stadium.

A fine defensive effort was need to see the game through though, Nick Pope making saves to deny Tomas Soucek, Andriy Yarmolenko and Sebastien Haller.

That took the England keeper to 14 clean sheets for the season, a Premier League high, as he continued to push his claim to be Gareth Southgate’s first choice at international level.

Dyche said: “A few people mentioned to me that Nick is unorthodox, but do you know the best bit? He keeps the ball out of the net.

“There’s no perfect way of doing that, but he finds a way, backed by a team in front of him who are committed and give their all.

“We ask a lot of our players and if all that fails, we have a top goalkeeper who wants to keep it out of the net.”

Rodriguez has continued to impress leading the line since the restart, adding a second header after the one he scored in the win over Watford at Turf Moor.

“It’s really pleasing for Jay, he’s been a fantastic servant for this club,” added Dyche.

“The back five were outstanding and a willing six in front to go and find a goal. The mentality of the group continues to improve.

“I think Europe is a big ask, the group is stretched to the limit, but we are still at it.”