Burnley boss Sean Dyche is delighted with the form of Steven Defour.

Dyche believes the 29-year-old has learnt from his struggles last season, when he failed to complete 90 minutes in the league, and is now thriving.

“I think he's enjoying his football," Dyche said of the former Porto and Standard Liege midfielder.

“It's interesting to see last season people were wondering why I wasn't playing him, why he wasn't playing more.

“But it's my job to know the players and to know what to do with them and he now knows that. At the time he was probably saying 'why am I not playing more?'.

“It was a learning process for him, even at his age and with his experience, because the Premier League is a different animal to what he's used to. A lot higher tempo, a lot more physically demanding, particularly in a side that doesn't always have the ball.

“I think he's now learnt when to find the moments that count whilst doing the team work he has to do.

“He's accepted it and is relishing it. I think he's enjoying playing in a team that everyone is willing to do his bit, and he can still provide the moments of quality when needed like he did."

Meanwhile, Dyche says Scott Arfield and Dean Marney are being kept informed of the club's contract plans for him.

Dyche said: "We'll be talking to them on an ongoing basis as we always do with all of the players. They're all in the loop of where they are and what the situation is and what our thoughts are.

"We always do that but I'm respectful of it and it's private."