Premier League: Burnley face the same woes that once befell Watford

Sean Dyche has plenty to think about

Burnley boss Sean Dyche has been brutally honest about the budget gap between his Premier League new boys and first weekend opponents Chelsea. Ralph Ellis sees echoes of the last club who thought they could survive at the top on hard work alone.

Liverpool are in Chicago. Manchester United are in Washington. Arsenal are in New York. Meanwhile Burnley won 1-0 away to Accrington Stanley.

If there is anything that sums up the gap which the Premier League's new boys have got to bridge, then it is the pre-season schedule being followed by Sean Dyche and his team. While the big clubs are touring North America, the Clarets are rolling around North West England. The next stops? Preston tomorrow night and Blackpool on Saturday.

Of course it won't do them any harm to have avoided the long haul stints that the stars have to make, with jet lag an enemy to building fitness before the Premier League gets under way on August 16. But it does underline that their workmanlike side are without a jot of star quality.

Now I like Dyche. He is down to earth, gets the best from his players, and knows how to get a side organised. I saw Burnley several times last season and they all knew their jobs. It was old fashioned 4-4-2, with a couple of centre-halves who could head and kick it away, wingers who could put a cross in, midfield men who would pass it. Right-sided players on the right, and left-sided players on the left. Danny Ings and Sam Vokes up front who could both finish a chance.

The problem is that while you can get a side on a roll in the Championship and bounce from game to game with the confidence of winning, the Premier League is a whole different matter. Somewhere among all the workers you need a splash of genuine quality, and that's where Burnley will be found out.

Dyche has been talking about the difference.  His side are 10.09/1 to beat Chelsea in their opening fixture, and he admits "we will be the biggest underdogs there has ever been in the Premier League."  

He says the 32million transfer fee plus 9million wages paid to Diega Costa is more than his club's entire turnover.

At the moment Burnley look like the new Watford. You might remember Aidy Boothroyd bringing a team of workers into the top flight back in 2006. They chose to spend only buttons of their Sky TV money, believing that hard work alone could help them compete. It didn't work and they finished 20th.

You can see Burnley going the same way.  They are 1.674/6 for relegation, but the real value is in backing them at 3.1511/5 to finish rock bottom.

So far Dyche has paid the princely sum of 2.5million for Lukas Jutkiewicz from Middlesbrough and his other five signings - Michael Kightly, Marvin Sordell, Matt Gilks, Matt Taylor and Steven Reid - have all been free transfers. It smacks of a club - like Watford were - happy to take the Premier League cash bonanza but go back down again.

After Chelsea their next home game is Manchester United, with a trip to Swansea sandwiched in between.  It is the sort of fixture start designed to kill the confidence from last year's promotion campaign in one fell swoop.

Burnley aren't going for glamour now in pre-season. And sadly it is hard to see what their fans have to look forward to even beyond that.