Burnley boss Sean Dyche admits he was warned going into this season's Europa League qualifiers.

The Clarets have battled all season after their early European commitments.

"Everyone warned me about it, inside the game and outside the game," he says. "I can see it now. You go into it with your eyes open and in a positive manner but it's very difficult to find a balance with the planning, the rest and the effect on pre-season. It is very difficult to navigate through that while keeping the eyes on the main prize of the Premier League.

"The mind tells you that you should use the Europa League as your pre-season but you don't really because the players aren't silly, they know it's a real game. Plus there's the fact that our model is difficult financially so we very rarely get players in early because of the way the club is run so you don't necessarily have the numbers that you want in.

"Then you get through the first few rounds and suddenly you have already played six games. Then the Premier League is under way and you have played five games and have got one point and you are thinking this is all a bit confusing. Suddenly it's Christmas and you've got 12 points from 19 games and you think, hang on a minute, we have way more left to do."