FRANK Casper believes Burnley may find it easier to return to the Premier League at the second attempt after backing them to emulate the team of the 1970s.

Casper was part of Jimmy Adamson’s Clarets side that suffered relegation from the top flight in 1971 and then could only finish seventh in the Second Division a year later, but they came storming back to win the title in 1973 and return to the First Division.

The 66-year-old, who went on to manage Burnley between 1989 and 1991, believes relegated clubs often fall into the trap of underestimating the second tier.

And he thinks the current Burnley squad, who return for pre-season training today after an eighth-placed finish in their first season following relegation from the Premier League, may be more equipped to go up during 2011/12.

“It’s very difficult to get back there at the first go,” said Casper, who had started his career in the Second Division with Rotherham United.

“When we came out of the old First Division and went back down to the Second Division, I always remember Jimmy Adamson asking me what the difference was. I said, ‘There’s not too much difference from the top of the old Second Division to going back up there’. I said, ‘It’s going to be difficult’.

“The first year we didn’t do it but the second year we did because we’d got the experience. You don’t realise how strong a league it is. You come down and think it’s an easier league to go back up, but it isn’t. It could be the same coming down this time.

“The top half of the Championship is as good as the bottom half of the Premier League.

“To get straight back up is difficult, but next season could be the season.”