BURNLEY boss Owen Coyle isn’t the only one with a building project on his hands in preparation for the Premier League.

Stadium manager Doug Metcalfe has a similar assignment, but in a much more literal sense.

The television gantry at the back of the James Hargreaves Stand has been extended with bricks and mortar to cater for the number of cameras and commentators expected at Turf Moor for every home game.

The press box adjacent to that has been extended and kitted out with small televisions which, under Premier League requirements, will screen live footage of each match to journalists.

And the names of the line-ups for Burnley’s first home game against Manchester United will be read out through a brand new PA system, while the big screen will be relocated to the corner of the James Hargreaves and Jimmy McIlroy Stands.

Every seat is anticipated to be filled for the champions’ visit on August 18, and each one will have been individually washed.

Behind the scenes, work is also being done to improve the Bob Lord Stand interior, and the dressing rooms, although not too much attention will be paid to the latter; partly because the David Fishwick Stand will be the first to be redeveloped, but also because they don’t want visiting players to get too comfortable.

“They’re coming to a facility which is, with respect, dated. That’s an advantage to us,” said Metcalfe.

“Players will want to be pampered a bit, but they won’t get that here.

“It’s been well documented that the dressing rooms aren’t big enough. They don’t meet the criteria, but we’ve been granted dispensation because hopefully the David Fishwick Stand will be demolished within the next 12 to 18 months, by which time we’ll be in new changing rooms, which will comply.

“Our lads are used to it as they are though.

“We want to achieve Premier League requirements but maximise what we’ve got to give us every chance of staying up.”

The dressing rooms are on a list of 45 ‘things to do’, costing just over £1million.

“People normally think that in pre-season you pack up and go home for six weeks, but it’s incredible what we have to get done,” continued Metcalfe, who was appointed in 2005.

“Having said that, the stadium in itself is in reasonable shape to accommodate Premier League football; we did it successfully last season with Premier League teams.

“The cup games demonstrated we can host similar games, albeit being week in, week out now.

“Three or four months before winning at Wembley we’d done a ‘What if?’ scenario, without tempting fate, so we were reasonably prepared. It wasn’t a complete shock.”

Metcalfe, who has had to cancel a summer holiday because of the increased workload, added: “There’s a lot to do in such a small window, but we’re confident everything that needs to be done in time for the Manchester United game will be.

“Normally we’d do a fraction of this work in the close-season.

“There aren’t enough hours in the day at the moment, but it’s a fantastic position to be in and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

“It’s great for the club and for the town. People are now starting to really think about what’s around the corner.”