Sean Dyche puts a five-a-side team through their paces at Burnley's training ground

Burnley manager Sean Dyche has his side flying high at the top of the Sky Bet Championship, but can he convert a bunch of amateurs into professionals in one training session?

The answer was always going to be no, but he was certainly up for the challenge, bringing his coaching staff in to show us what a standard training session is like. 

I was tagging along with a five-a-side team, led by Clarets fan Sam, who described his greatest footballing achievement as topping the scoring charts in his school's year six tournament. 

The team had been handed the chance to train with Dyche as part of Football League sponsor Sky Bet's 'Who? What? Where?' campaign, which gives fans the chance to meet their heroes.

Here's how our day panned out...

Meeting the gaffer

We were warmly welcomed at Burnley's Gawthorpe Hall training ground and sent to get changed and await the arrival of our manager for the day.

Dyche had been training the first team in the morning before fulfilling his press commitments, which included an interview with Sky Sports News HQ as he collected his Sky Bet Manager of the Month award.

The league leaders are unbeaten in 2016 and flying high at the top of the Sky Bet Championship, so we were hopeful that Dyche would go easy on us.

Any preconceptions of him being a leader that rules with fear were quickly set to bed as he greeted us warmly and it quickly became apparent that his philosophy was to optimise potential by getting willing workers play with the belief.

The warm-up

The most important part of the session, as one of the less athletically equipped players was to find out.

After a brief jog, we were put through various loosening drills, the majority of which were with the ball at our feet.

Mark Howard, head of sport science, explained how the focus was on dynamic stretches, replicating and preparing our bodies for the actions we'd be putting into practice.

Sprints and more sprints

The fitness drill was fairly simple, with the key being to ensure we began our sprints from a light jog. The runs were approximately 40 metres, with a five-second light jog between each one, repeated eight times.

We managed the first set quite comfortably but the second round had a victim, with 'Davo' pulling a hamstring.

I could feel mine tightening towards the end and was relieved when our fitness expert said we'd give the third round, which the first team usually do, a miss.  

'Polishing' technique

We then moved on to some control and pass drills under the guidance of Nottingham Forest legend Ian Woan. 

The initial drill was in pairs, with one player supplying the ball via an underarm throw and the other attempting to control the ball and return to source.

The manikins were introduced for the next exercise, which we were informed play a big role in Arsene Wenger's training sessions, perhaps explaining the club's marking of Andy Carroll at the weekend.

Positioned in triangles, we had to receive the ball to the left of the 'marker' and return to the oncoming supplier, spin round and collect it again from the right of the manikin, and take it on to the one to the right. Simple right? Wrong, especially once you throw two balls into the mix.   

Finishing practice

After watching us struggling to out-manoeuvre Burnley's best manikins, it was time to see whether we could beat their Under-21 goalkeeper Danijel Nizic.

The move was a simple one; pass it into Dyche, latch onto the one-two and beat the goalkeeper. The gaffer wasn't in the business of making it any easier though, demanding pace on the supply and popping up a few passes. 

However, we had a player capable of making it look easy. Jordan Rhodes' cousin was on hand to show that genetics might  be the most important ingredient, producing a chip worthy of any division, leaving Burnley's Under-21 goalkeeper seated and red-faced.

To the relief of the young Aussie stopper, the Sky Sports News cameraman had chosen that very moment to reposition himself, missing the rare moment of brilliance. 

The match

We finished with a three-touch six-a-side game with Woan explaining that "most of the time, the right option is the first one you see".

After drawing the first five-minute game 4-4, we were given freedom to have as many touches as we wanted in the second and our team, carrying the hamstring-hampered Davo, were eventually exposed, going down 8-6, resulting in Dyche's forfeit rule coming our way.

The punishment? Ear flicks. Five on each ear. Not the glamour of professional football we had imagined, but another example of the grounded environment created by Dyche.

Sean Dyche's training session was arranged by Football League sponsor Sky Bet as part of the Who? What? Where? initiative, where fans can request their perfect day with their footballing hero. Find out more here.