Burnley manager Sean Dyche thanked his backroom staff for delivering Saturday’s 2-0 win over Wolves after spending much of the international break recovering from back surgery.
The 47-year-old had an operation on a long-standing nerve problem during the break but was back in the dugout to see Burnley triumph through an early Conor Coady own goal and Dwight McNeil’s 77th minute strike.
It was Dyche’s 114th Burnley win in his 300th game in charge and ended a damaging run of four straight defeats, but the manager said much of the credit belonged to his staff.
“I am very pleased from a professional point of view because I’ve had to have a back operation in the past couple of weeks,” Dyche said.
“I’ve had to have a week away and I thank my staff because they have obviously kept at it with the training levels we expect.
“I’ve been trying to put it off after four months of agony, but the specialist felt he could get me back to work early and he’s done that very well.
“Hopefully over the coming days I’ll be back on the treadmill, but for now I’ll just be happy to be back at work and enjoying days like today.”
Wolves offered up a helping hand in the form of Coady’s own goal inside two minutes.
The Wolves defender let Chris Wood get away from him as McNeil floated in a deep free-kick, and then inadvertently bundled the ball in as Wood’s shot struck a post.
Burnley then frustrated Wolves in a match which saw neither team register a shot on target until Jonny’s 74th-minute header was comfortably held by Tom Heaton.
Three minutes later McNeil settled it, finding space on the left to hit a low drive into the far corner.
“I’m pleased with the performance in so many ways,” Dyche added.
“Obviously the result is more important, especially today after losing four games, but we did all the basics and all of the ugly stuff really well.”
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo admitted his side took too long to recover from the early goal.
“Everything becomes harder and it’s something that we can avoid, and we must avoid,” he said of conceding from the first chance of the game.
“But this is part of the growing process of the team and shows we have to be switched on throughout the whole game.
“Sometimes you have a lot of the ball and you cannot produce enough. I think we produced, we created some good movements, good football, managed possession well and had clear chances.
“But what disappointed us is the way we started the game, losing 1-0, as it’s not the way we should compete.”
