Brighton v Burnley preview: Clarets are more confident nowadays, says Sean Dyche

Sean Dyche says his Burnley team are becoming more confident thanks to their form this season which sees them sit in sixth as they prepare to face Brighton.

The Clarets travel to the Amex off the back of two straight wins, which briefly saw them move into the top four but Dyche knows his team can't take anything for granted.

"I don't know about a swagger but I think there's a slightly more assuredness about our own team," he said.

"There's a healthy respect for the opposition but that goes out of the window when the whistle goes and there's clear-mindedness for how we perform to get what we want.

"Those things are in place but I don't think we've got to the level where we're swaggering into places. That's for people who've been in the division's top end for a lot longer than us."

Brighton have lost four of their last five games but manager Chris Hughton says his team are not in 'crisis' as they prepare to face in-form Burnley.

"Is it a crisis? No. It's not because we are a newly-promoted team so in some aspects when we went through a good period, it was better than people expected.

"We have to take that into consideration. We are amongst a group of teams who are also not in good form.

"We are the newer ones in the division and we are gaining experience as we go along."

Team news

Brighton will have an unchanged squad for the visit of Burnley.

Boss Chris Hughton has no new injury concerns following the midweek defeat at Tottenham, with midfielder Steve Sidwell (back) still the only absentee.

Pascal Gross and Glenn Murray are set to return to the starting line-up having dropped to the bench against Spurs.

Burnley will welcome back Matt Lowton and Ben Mee for the trip to Brighton but are still unsure about fellow defender Stephen Ward's availability.

Full-back Lowton and centre-back Mee (both knee) have missed the previous two Clarets games while Ward will be assessed on Friday having taken a blow to the knee, forcing him off against Stoke in midweek.

Charlie Taylor may be handed his first Premier League start if Ward misses out, with Robbie Brady (knee), Tom Heaton (shoulder), Dean Marney and Jonathan Walters (both knee) still missing.

Opta stats

This is the first top-flight meeting between Brighton and Burnley, with the previous 26 taking place in the second and third tiers of English football.

Since the start of last season, no British manager has won more points in the Premier League than Sean Dyche (71).
Of Premier League managers with at least 20 wins, Sean Dyche has won the highest percentage of those games by a one-goal margin (82% - 22 of 27).

Burnley manager Sean Dyche has made just 13 changes to his starting XI overall this season in 17 matches; eight fewer than any other side.

Only Manchester United and Manchester City (both 11) have conceded fewer goals than Burnley (12) in the Premier League this season - this despite teams attempting a league-high 279 shots against Burnley.

85 of the previous 86 teams to have won at least 31 points from their first 17 games of a Premier League season have ended that campaign in the top 10 (99%). Of those 86 teams, 81 have finished in the top six that season (94%).

Chris Wood has scored five goals in his last five league starts against former club Brighton - he scored twice against them in his last appearance for Leeds United in March.

Merson's prediction

Burnley have been outstanding. Sometimes I go against them and I wonder why have I done it, because they are flying along. This is a hard one to call but Burnley are bang in form and I have to show them some respect.

They have almost done their job this season, they probably need six points to be safe, which would have been their target at the start of the season. If they come in the top half then Sean Dyche has to be the manager of the year.

PAUL PREDICTS: 1-2 (11/1 with Sky Bet)

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