Steven Defour's class rubs off on other Burnley players, says Sean Dyche

Burnley manager Sean Dyche sang the praises of Steven Defour after the midfielder turned in a man-of-the-match display to help beat Watford 2-0 at Turf Moor on Monday night.

The experienced Belgium international set up both goals for Jeff Hendrick and Michael Keane as the Clarets recorded a morale-boosting win to jump up to 13th in the Premier League.

And Dyche was quick to highlight the contribution of the player bought from Anderlecht for just £8m in August.

"He adds, for sure," he said of the 28-year-old. "We worked very hard on that deal, we felt he would add some quality, he has a great manner to him, he wants to develop with the team, and he definitely adds something to the performances.

"And I think that rubs off on others, sometimes you get that person in who just has that bit of calmness and an assured manner in possession, and that rubs off on others and adds to the belief of the group.

"He has made a really good start for us and I think Jeff Hendrick did really well for us tonight. He is still learning about the group and getting familiar with the players and glue that together with some players who have been here for a while and delivered performances for us over the years and we think it is a good mixture.

"I am not sure how far it can take us, but we are certainly up for the challenge."

As for the game itself, Dyche was also pleased with how his side adapted from their tried-and-tested 4-4-2 system to playing a 4-5-1 formation.

"It is important that we are flexible, I am flexible in my thinking, but it is just we have been very successful playing 4-4-2," he said.

"We want to attack teams and take the game on, but we just felt it was the right occasion and the right side to deliver a performance.

"We need to think about each game as it comes, which we do anyway, and sometimes it is just the details in a performance.

"But whatever shape we play, we like to glue it together with a pressing game and an energy, and I thought tonight there were some good moments of quality, particularly the first half."

Another aspect of the game that delighted the Burnley boss was his defence keeping the normally dangerous Watford attack at bay, a team that had scored seven goals in their previous two Premier League games against Man Utd and West Ham United.

"If you keep clean sheets, then you are going to have a chance in games," said Dyche. "We did well the last time around - we did not score as many, but if you look at the goals against, we did pretty well for a team that had come up and had a challenge on their hands.

"So we believe in the shape of the team and there is good organisation in the team, we know we have to be productive in the top third and that is our big challenge going through the season. But we have made a really solid start to the season."

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