Burnley boss Owen Coyle concedes it will be an uphill struggle to maintain their Premiership status this season.

Coyle said: "The players have been outstanding and they are certainly due my loyalty.

"Not many teams will go to Chelsea and Liverpool and pick up points. It's important that people strike the balance between realism and expectation.

"Realistically, we should be nowhere in the league because of the finance involved. In terms of salaries, squad size and overall expenditure, we've probably got half of what our nearest competitor in the Premier League has.

"That tells you about the imbalance of the situation, but we also know that despite that imbalance we can win games and retain our Premier League status.

"All the great analysts out there think Burnley are going to go down, but that's up to them.

"What we know within our group, and our town, is that if we are at our best as we have been before, then we can win points and we'll do our utmost to make sure we stay in the top flight of English football."