'We're in good shape' - Dyche; Puel concedes seventh

Clarets boss Sean Dyche admits Burnley are 'in good shape' to finish seventh and, hopefully, seal European football for the first time in 51 years.
Sean DycheSean Dyche
Sean Dyche

But he isn’t getting ahead of himself as the Clarets go into the last five games of the season looking to win as many games and get as many points as possible.

Burnley are nine points clear of Leicester City in eighth after a 2-1 win at Turf Moor - a fifth-successive win - with Everton a further point back, having played a game more.

Newcastle, in 10th, are 14 adrift.

Sean DycheSean Dyche
Sean Dyche
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Dyche said, after early goals from former Foxes striker Chris Wood and Kevin Long, with Jamie Vardy pulling one back: “We’re in very good shape.

“The biggest thing for me is to stay focused on what we want to do. We’ve achieved more than we did last year, which is the first marker, now it’s open-mind and see how far it can take us,without losing sight of the fact we’re reality-bound here. We know we’ve got to do more than that in the coming games over 90 minutes.

“But that’s a different way of trying to get a result.

“In the Premier League it’s very difficult, we’ve never made statements we’re going to walk through it and start outplaying teams every week, because we’re not.

Sean DycheSean Dyche
Sean Dyche

“We know what we are but that’s a weapon in itself. To deliver performances that can get you results, so I’m very pleased with that.”

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Leicester manager Claude Puel, speaking to Match of the Day, all but conceded the chase for seventh: "We deserved a result at the end. It is difficult because we lose our run for the Europa League cup but congratulations to Burnley. They deserve it.

“Of course there are games remaining but they (Burnley) now have a lot of chances.”

Dyche credited Leicester for a strong second half performance, which made for a nervy finish: “Credit to Leicester. The last half an hour at least they were excellent. But they’re a good side, people forget that, we’re in the Premier League and I haven’t come across one yet that are awful - they’re all good sides.

“It’s very difficult to get five wins on the trot, so very pleased overall.

“We’ve had to work for everything today.

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“After a very fast start and a pretty decent first half, I thought, in general, they’ve had two moments, Popey making a fantastic save from one of them, and Vardy mis-heading one.

“We started well second half, but 2-0 is a funny scoreline, especially at this stage of the season. They had nothing to lose and played like that, they just threw more and more bodies forward.

“They’ve got very technical players and an England forward who can score a goal, and he did.

“So we had to show a different side of ourselves, the organisation, the diligence, and the will and demand.

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“Aaron (Lennon)’s been outstanding, not because of what fans see, what I see as a manager, his willingness after all his experiences, to work like he has to, to defend, to press - it’s fantastic to see pros like him doing that, all for the cause of the players.”