LAY OFF JEFF!

SEAN DYCHE has urged Burnley fans to be more patient with Jeff Hendrick.

Dyche knows some Clarets supporters question Hendrick, 26, because they feel the midfielder could contribute more.

But Dyche is pleased with the Republic of Ireland international, who teed up Jack Cork to score the extra-time winner against Istanbul Basaksehir on Thursday.

“Sometimes the fans can question Jeff, but I thought he was absolutely tremendous on Thursday,” said Dyche.

Grip

“Sometimes people, they forget he’s a midfield player going into that No.10 slot and it takes time to develop in that role.

“There’s not a time span on player development. Some grip hold of a new concept, while others take more time.

“Jeff is a relatively young player, especially in Premier League terms. He’s still moulding himself into a real Premier League player.

“He’s not overly criticised. I just think sometimes fans think, ‘Come on, give us a bit more’. But I thought on Thursday he was excellent. I thought he was excellent as well down at Southampton. I only took him off tactically, it was nothing do with his performance.

“Fans have moments with players, just little windows. It’s not been too much.

“Sometimes people have questions about certain players, but I think that the last couple of games people have been pleased with his performances. I certainly have.”

Burnley needed extra-time to progress in the Europa League for the second round running, but Dyche insists his players will be ready to take on Watford tomorrow.

“The will is there and we’ve shown we’ve got that in abundance,” he said.

“The players’ mental and physical fitness is absolutely fantastic, so they’ll be ready.

“The two home games back to back, rather than two away games back to back, give better recovery time, better sleep time and just a better feel that you haven’t been travelling all the time.

“That can only help, but we can’t just rely on that and we know we need to be focused against a very good side.”