‘WE MUST SPEND OLL LOT MORE’

SEAN DYCHE says Burnley missed out on signing Ollie Watkins because the club was unwilling to “stretch itself” to meet his fee.

Aston Villa, the Clarets’ opponents tomorrow, paid Brentford’s £28million asking price for Watkins, who has eight goals in 13 games this season.

Burnley spent just £1m in the summer and are a point above the Premier League drop zone, while Villa, who spent £75m, have won six of their first 10 games. And Clarets boss Dyche claimed Villa’s willingness to splash out on Watkins showed clubs need to spend big to progress.

“Watkins was a player we looked at, but the numbers kept rising,” said Dyche. “What it is a sign of is that whether you think the market is worth it or not, is irrelevant. It’s just whether you want to pay it. And Villa obviously decided they would.

“It’s not rocket science, you just need a chairman and board who will spend money.

“It’s something I’ve mentioned many times about this club beginning to stretch itself. The market doesn’t care if we want to spend or not, it’s saying ‘you’ve got to’.”