Burnley boss Sean Dyche says injuries and absences were key to their 3-0 defeat at Chelsea

First half goals from Jorginho and Tammy Abraham made it another tough day at the office for the Clarets, who were earlier denied an opener from Jeff Hendrick by the tightest of VAR offside decisions.

Dyche, who could only name five defenders on the bench at Stamford Bridge, said: “We have had injuries and illness and it's not ideal, but I still expect a lot from my players and I thought the starting 11 we put out today could compete.

“We're in a tough period at the minute and we just need to free the group up a bit.

“Nobody is quite playing with that fluidity and anticipating the game. That's from tightness and not getting results and it's not easy.

“We have to come out of that because it's a vicious circle.

“You have to free yourself up and be confident enough to go and win a game, but equally you could argue that wins bring that confidence.

“It's the chicken and egg scenario and this is the reality of the Premier League."

He added: "I'm a little aggrieved by the second goal because Tarky (James Tarkowski) has two arms in his back from their centre forward (Tammy Abraham), who then scores.

“Popey (Nick Pope) should inevitably save it, and he will be disappointed with that, but at the end of the day that's a foul. Unfortunately though, we are having a run of making mistakes at the moment and getting punished for them.

“We have to eradicate them, to be sure. You definitely can't give soft goals to teams like this."