PREMIER League football would set Burnley up for the next 10 years, according to operational director Brendan Flood.

The Clarets are just three games away from ending a 33-year exile from English football’s top flight, after securing a place in the Championship play-offs for the first time in their history with Sunday’s 4-0 win over Bristol City.

Success over Reading in the two-legged semis, followed by a Wembley win in the final, would bring an automatic £30million payday through TV rights alone.

Even teams relegated to the Championship stand to receive parachute payments totalling £24m over two years.

And although Flood, chairman Barry Kilby and manager Owen Coyle have no intention of becoming a yo-yo club, just one year of Premier League football could prove significant to the club’s future.

“It would guarantee the club 10 good years financially,” said Flood.

“With good management you can build on the Premier League windfall because you can be successful without spending all the money you get.

“You can plan better, invest on a longer basis and recruit better people at every level.”

And he admitted it was worth the element of ‘risk’ involved in pushing Burnley to the brink of promotion.

“One of the first things I said when I got on board was ‘why should we be frightened of trying to get up, or frightened of the risks in trying to get up?’ If you’ve only to stretch yourself a little bit in your resources why not go for that when the rewards are so significant,” said Flood.

“I think we are probably above average in terms of wage commitments in the Championship - we’ve made that resource available.

"We’re certainly not in the top six wage payers in the league, although we’re not in the bottom half either.

“You do have to make enough money available to get the right players, and to get people who have got that ability to deliver,” added Flood, who believes planning and recruitment have also been key ingredients in Burnley’s achievements to date.

“In order to be in the play-offs it was going to require our best season for 34 years, which is a huge effort. But I knew we were capable of it, from looking at how the team was gelling and how we were playing in pre-season, and Owen has the character to be successful,” he said.

“We had aimed for players with proven track records of being successful, and also went shopping for a calibre of player who could potentially play in the Premier League, and targeting people who we felt would be ‘top six players’. Are they better than average Championship players?

“Ever since I’ve been involved with the club, one of the pre-conditions when targeting players is whether they’ve been captains previously; leaders on the pitch.

“That’s why they are strong-monded and showing that resilience when big games come along.