Clarets boss Dyche is keen to avoid jingoism ahead of huge Euro tie
Forget the talk about money, or the Battle of Britain references. Sean Dyche just wants to focus on the football.
That is the message from the Burnley manager as he prepares to bring his team north of the border to take on Aberdeen.
The Europa League second qualifying round tie will be the Clarets’ first European outing for 51 years, and their reward for an unexpected seventh place in the Premier League last season. But far from simply a tune-up for the new league campaign, Dyche knows he is in for a tough test when his side travel to Pittodrie for Thursday’s first leg.
Rather than predicting an England-scotland showdown, he prefers to accentuate both clubs’ ability to punch above their weight domestically.
And any suggestion that Burnley’s financial might dwarfs that of Aberdeen’s is met with a big smile from the 47-year-old.
Dyche is used to trying to mastermind results against the powerhouses of English football, with superstars on astronomical wages.
But it’s difficult not to focus on finance when Burnley’s record signing was £15m striker Chris Wood 12 months ago, while Aberdeen have just sold Adam Rooney to non-league Salford City.
“Finance goes out of the window,” insists Dyche. “You could use that for every single game and opponent we play against in the Premier League.
“I saw a figure that said Huddersfield have spent about £78m in the last three transfer windows. Trust me, we haven’t spent £78m!
“Equally, you can say the same about Aberdeen when they play Celtic and Rangers, and now ourselves. But that all goes out of the window when the whistle blows.
“And I don’t go along with all the ‘Battle of Britain’ stuff. It’s a football match, us against another club, and we’ll see who wins at the end of it.
“Aberdeen are a good side, without a doubt, and tough opposition. They have been strong season after season.
“I don’t follow them all the time, but from the outside, they do a great job in not getting bogged down with all the focus on Celtic and Rangers.
“They’ve found their own little bubble of ‘Let’s focus on us’. They find a way to compete against teams with much greater resources.
“I saw a bit of them last year, and I’ve seen a few videos. We had someone at their game against West Brom on Friday to check on them.
“We don’t take any opponents lightly, and certainly not a good, recognised club like Aberdeen.
“The players know this won’t be any sort of walkover and they will have to be right.”
One area that Mcinnes and his players will have to be particularly wary of is Burnley’s threat from set-pieces.
Dyche has talked about their importance for many years, so he watched with a sense of pride as England were the masters of this at the World Cup.
Eight of their 11 goals in Russia came from dead balls, and the Burnley boss was delighted to see it used as such a deadly weapon.
And he is also full of praise for England manager Gareth Southgate, who by dint of leading them to the semi-finals, restored their identity on a world stage.
“It used to be an English thing, but this time people from all over the world were lauding us for set-pieces,” he says.
“It was a dirty word 10 years ago because everyone wanted to play like Spain.
“This time, England have done fantastically. They have used set-pieces to their advantage, which I’m really pleased about.
“Set pieces have never gone away. They have always been about 25-30% of the game, more so in really tight matches, and especially with the quality the England players have.
“It is now being looked at very positively. “The other good thing about Gareth Southgate’s side was the mix of Englishness, combined with modern thinking on the game.
“We played a different formation, and tried to play pass-and-move, but there was a bit of pride and islander spirit as well.
“For the first time in a long time, it started to look like our own DNA rather than anyone else’s. That is a healthy thing for the future.”