Burnley Fan View: Squad mentality key to success

Burnley won for a fifth straight time on Saturday, felling Leicester City at home 2-1, and stretching the gap between the two sides – and with it the European qualification – to nine points.

We have been drawing plenty of plaudits all season, but this is our best patch of the season and quite rightly Sean Dyche is being heavily linked with Manager of the Season. He won the March Manager of the Month Award last week and even with Man City winning the league on Sunday, he could well pip Pep to the award.

It’s hard to define what is the reason behind our success this season, but I would say the squad mentality is the defining reason behind it.

We have lost a handful of players this season to injury, but the attitude of the players stepping in has been tremendous. Tom Heaton was replaced by Nick Pope, who had barely played a minute for us but has turned into an international standard keeper. Ashley Barnes had to step up to the plate after Chris Wood went down to injury early in the season and has been firing since.

The understanding between the players is remarkable, Dyche has got every single player bought into the cause and the results are evident. Everyone know their job to the letter – but that doesn’t mean we aren’t flexible in our approach play, another important factor in success this year.

Later examples include Ashley Westwood, who had to replace the effervescent Steven Defour and has done marvellous, he is nowhere near the talent or pedigree of Defour but has adopted his play to suit the team and we have been better for it. Kevin Long is another player who has come from nowhere, yet could have been Man of the Match in our last two wins.

The new training centre (something Dyche championed) has played a role in this, with players training closer with each other and getting more from training on the all-weather pitches. Everything about the centre is geared to that one club mentality and it is paying dividends on the field.

Midweek we face Chelsea, who will have one eye on the FA Cup next weekend, a win puts us ahead of Arsenal who will only be worried about Europa League results from here on in surely? It could be an even more special end to the season for the Clarets.