SEAN Dyche insists he has belief in the depth of his squad despite the size of the task facing his fringe players this weekend.

The Clarets chief will make changes for Saturday's trip to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City in the FA Cup third round, and while Pep Guardiola will also rotate City have far greater resources available to them.

While Dyche admits stopping the City juggernaut is 'going to be very difficult', he is confident his side can pose them problems however many changes he makes.

"It’s going to be very difficult, because as much as the amount of games they have a considerable squad there," he said of the test awaiting his men.

"They have made it clear they are going about their business. It’s just not the magic of the cup, but the magic of football. It offers strange results.

"You know you have to perform well. They could make 11 changes be super strong side on paper. I don’t think we overthink the realities of that.

"On the other hand I believe in our squad and they are motivated to play. So that’s the first marker and we will see what else comes."

Dyche has already admitted he will be forced to rotate after a busy festive fixture list, but as usual the Burnley boss was refusing to use that as an excuse.

The injuries have been piling up for a while now at Turf Moor and Dyche said he wasn't going to blame the crowded fixture list for that.

"I just get on with it. We are probably, which is unusual for us, a stretched as we have ever been. , but we at least have a squad that feel is rounded and has more depth," he said.

"I must make it clear, every club has different challenges. Pep Guardiola’s at Manchester City is to win everything, or as much as they can. So it is different. A lot of pressure and stress comes up with that.

"Everyone has a different measure of where they are at with fatigue, outputs and that kind of thing. That goes in the thinking. We are well aware of our teams output physically.

"This run of games hasn’t made our situation. It was before that. I’m not going to blame the fixtures."

The cup tie brings together two of the Premier League's big stories in 2017/18, with City setting a ferocious pace at the top of the table while the Clarets continue to confound, sitting seventh in the table.

Asked to compare the success stories, Dyche said: "I think they are different animals. Different situations. The ways the two clubs are operating.

"We don’t measure ourselves other than against ourselves. We are aware of different things in the market and open minded for different things. What can you learn, what’s out there, how much knowledge and information can we get. Generally the first marker is about ourselves."