Burnley manager Sean Dyche has praised Joey Barton and Ireland full-back Stephen Ward for their positive contribution to their successful promotion campaign.
The 44-year-old has guided the club to the Premier League for the second time in three seasons and spoke to Off The Ball tonight about a fantastic achievement.
Barton and Ward are among the players who have aided that journey.
"It's sounds really obvious but each team member has to understand their role but they have to understand the roles of others work and I think Wardy amongst many others has made a good show of that," said Dyche.
"He's been really good for us, Joey, and you look at all the signings really and they've all done well. Joey's got a few headlines and so has Andre [Gray] for his goals but they've been really good for us and they've been good players and good people as well. Joey's fitted into the cultural environment we have here like hand in glove and enjoyed his football this year."
Burnley manager Sean Dyche is hoisted up by the players as they celebrate promotion after the Sky Bet Championship match at Turf Moor, Burnley. Picture by: Tim Goode / PA Wire/Press Association Images
Dyche also admitted that promotion this year was more important this year due to the new TV deal that Premier League clubs will avail of next season.
"The whole thinking in the media has been that this is one of the most important seasons to get out of the Championship into the Premier League because of the finances available and of course, the kudos. So I think for all them reasons, it's been a fantastic achievement," said Dyche, while also touching on his long-term plans.
"I said after the Premier League season, they asked me straight away after the last game and I said I had no intention of being anywhere else. But I also said you can't promise the future in football because as quick as someone may give you a chance to go somewhere else, sometimes your fans go against you as well. So I said it's a two-way thing. It's not about me saying I'm a 'Forever Manager' at Burnley because it's highly unlikely that happens but equally I was saying then as now, I'm very keen to continue on the journey that we're on and doing good things with it."
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