Keane’s big chance to show his potential

MICHAEL KEANE has the perfect chance to measure his progress when he faces Chelsea pair Diego Costa and Gary Cahill at Turf Moor today.

Burnley have not beaten Chelsea in the top flight since 1973 and ever-present centre-backs Michael Keane and Ben Mee will have the ultimate challenge in trying to stop Costa.

Former Manchester United defender Keane, who has resurrected his career at Burnley, has the added incentive of comparing himself to England defender Cahill.

‘He (Keane) is still a work in progress but he’s learned a lot since he’s been with us,’ said Burnley boss Sean Dyche, a former centre-half himself.

‘I think Cahill’s biggest breakthrough was that he learned a lot from John Terry who had that thirst to defend. I think Keano has improved with that thirst to defend because he can play.

‘It’s something in football to find defenders who actually want to defend and that’s the growth in Keano I’ve been impressed with. I think the balance in his game is getting better, then it’s consistency on top of that.’

With the feisty Costa about, the whole Burnley team will be tested as a defensive unit including Keane, who has been linked with big-money moves to Everton and back to Manchester United.

‘I like Costa as a player because I think he’s got a bit of everything,’ said Dyche. ‘A lot of centre-forwards want things as they like them, with Costa he can work off scraps, work with cleverness or be physical, working and running hard.

‘Maybe he got that nitty-gritty from playing for Atletico Madrid.

‘I think he is up there with some of the best centre-forwards.

‘Alan Shearer had that inner toughness and in a different way so did Gary Lineker. For all that being a nice fella, he had that football edge.’