Burnley boss Sean Dyche has slammed this season's loan rules.

Dyche was also critical of the loan rules this season that have meant any loanees returning to the club after a spell away at the first half of the season have been unable to play for the Clarets and then go out to a third side this term.

"What are the loan rules about? We're trying to encourage young players to go out and improve. It's bizarre," he told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

"For developing young players it's weird.

"We had a young player who has come out and then come back in. In theory he could have got involved with us, been a sub, played cup games, but we couldn't in case he went back out again.

"We spent a month wondering. We had a couple of injuries, we could have put him on the bench and got him involved, but we couldn't because we might have been stifling him from going back out again. It's madness.

"He could have been sub for the first team, trained with us every day and travelled with the first team, to add to the loan he has had, then go back out again, even more rounded as a player and he might have come back and been ready to kick on."