NO CLAUSE FOR ALARM

Dyche: My job is to deal with losing Wood

SEAN DYCHE has scotched talk that he is ready to quit Turf Moor after losing striker Chris Wood.

The Burnley boss admitted “feeling it” after the Clarets banked £25million by selling Wood to Newcastle when his release clause was triggered.

But asked directly whether he was considering his own future after the bombshell, Dyche said: “It’s my job. I’m resilient.

“I’ve taken a few knocks. It’s never been an easy ride.

“I am human. I do feel it. Make no mistake about it. I want to work, do better and the knocks hurt you.

“But my job is to deal with that and make sure I am still working hard.”

Swoop

Dyche only committed his own future to Burnley in September, agreeing a new four-year deal.

But the question had to be asked after Wood was the subject of the most surprising swoop of the January transfer window so far.

Dyche said he was under no pressure to cash in – but had no choice once the buy-out clause was met.

He added: “If you take away the contract situation, there was no idea about selling any player. No word from the ownership to me about selling any players.

But when someone has a clause like that, you don’t have any choice – it’s contractual.

“As regards the player, he said himself he felt he’d hit a bit of a lull, a comfort zone and wanted a fresh challenge. That’s the way it is.

“We all know Newcastle is still a big club. I can only imagine he’s got a comfortable contract there.

“I know they pay more than us so that’s another thing, part of the industry, part of the business we are in.

“There was no demand put upon me to sell players, that’s for sure.

“If there wasn’t a clause in his contract we were not thinking of selling players like him.” The call from Newcastle boss Eddie Howe came out of the blue.

Indeed, Dyche had instructed his senior scouts to find a player capable of playing alongside New Zealand star Wood.

Burnley insisted on the release clause in Wood’s contract.

But they did not believe that it would be met and now they are being forced to find not one, but two strikers.

The pressure is certainly mounting. The club remains anchored to the foot of the

Premier League table and the Championship is beckoning

Dyche believes that he will be backed to add to his squad – but with just over a week to go before the window closes – the

pressure is increasing.

Build

He added: “The new ownership has made it clear to me they want to build the club. They want to build on top of what the club is doing.

“The money side of things is still the same since I’ve been at Burnley.

“If you look at the history of the club, that’s our model.”

KIERAN TIERNEY is on a mission to help Arsenal back into the Champions League for the first time in five years.

The Gunners’ last taste of the competition was in 2016-17’s round of 16.

Tierney (left) said: “We know the standards of the club and the expectations. But we also know where we’ve been in the last years.

“Fourth place in the Premier League is a good position – it is good progress.

“This is the part of the season where you want to set your eyes on a target and know what to do to get there.”