Sean Dyche recognises Burnley need more wins under their belt but he believes they are starting to turn a corner after battling to a 1-1 Premier League draw against Everton in an entertaining encounter at Turf Moor.
Robbie Brady struck from 25 yards on his return from a hamstring injury after only three minutes although Dominic Calvert-Lewin levelled on the stroke of half-time to continue his rich vein of form this season.
Both sides had chances to score a winner but Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope and Everton counterpart Jordan Pickford made important interventions as the spoils were shared, which meant the Clarets remain in the relegation zone.
Burnley have collected six points from their opening 10 fixtures, with just one win, and although Dyche knows that needs to improve, he thinks his side are finding their feet after a spate of injuries in the last couple of months.
“I ask a lot of these players and they deliver a lot,” the Burnley manager said after taking charge of his 200th Premier League match.
“This season has been tougher for different reasons with injuries but now the squad is getting fitter, they’re getting that true Premier League fitness.
“The ones that are coming back from injury are getting fitter and stronger so the group is looking a more solid group.
“I’m not naive, we’ve still got to turn these performances into wins but you have to have a future in performances, you can’t luck out in the Premier League.”
Goals have been hard to come by for Burnley this season and they are the second lowest scorers in the division, having found the back of the net on just five occasions.
They could have given themselves some breathing room against the Toffees when Chris Wood was put clean through with the score at 1-0, but Pickford reacted quickly and was able to keep out the New Zealander’s left-foot effort.
Dyche absolved Wood of any blame and is confident the goals will start to flow as long as his attackers continue to put themselves in the right areas to score.
“Scoring goals is the hardest job in the game for me,” Dyche added.
“As long as they’re getting in positions to score, producing the performances that allow them the chance to score and assisting others in scoring then that’s how I judge their performances.
“I thought we asked a lot of questions of Everton in different ways and that was what I was pleased with in the attacking side.”
Calvert-Lewin is the Premier League’s leading scorer this season, taking his tally to 11 from as many matches, his latest goal coming after Everton were forced into an early change following an injury to Fabian Delph.
The midfielder was deployed at left wing-back as he was handed a rare start but a hamstring problem meant he was withdrawn before the half hour, necessitating a reshuffle as defender Ben Godfrey was switched to left-back.
The full-back position is starting to become a concern for Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti, with Seamus Coleman still recovering from a hamstring injury while Lucas Digne may be out for up to three months after surgery on his ankle.
“We have a little bit of an emergency there but to see the performances – (Alex) Iwobi and Ben Godfrey did really well,” Ancelotti said.
“In this moment some players have to adapt a little bit but we have to be positive, we hope Seamus will recover soon. We have to find a solution there, for sure.”
