Sean Dyche praised his Burnley players for keeping their cool despite the distractions as the Clarets marched to a 3-0 win over West Ham United on Saturday.

Chris Wood was introduced to the game in the 60th minute and the New Zealand international changed the game, setting up the opener before scoring twice himself, all within 16 minutes of coming on to the pitch.

Clarets diligence key to staying in the game says Dyche

The Clarets were able to punish the stricken Hammers team, with the home side’s defence failing to deal with the big man combination of Wood and Ashley Barnes, who opened the scoring.

Dyche wasn’t pleased with the first half display from his team, stating: “They were the better side, we weren’t at the races.”

“What really kept us in it was our diligence to do the simple stuff and do the basics, all the little details in a game to just about hang on.”

Dyche was very happy with the reaction of his players after halftime, despite the troubling circumstances, adding: “And then in the second half, I thought it was a very, very good display.”

Dyche didn’t want to comment on the issues at the London stadium, which included numerous fans running onto the pitch as well as fans moving over towards the director’s boxes to make their point directly to Chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan.

However, Dyche did say: “It’s not ideal. It’s not a situation everyone wants to see, but frustrations can sometimes run high.”

“But, I prefer to concentrate on our side. Our players and staff applied themselves correctly today.”

Burnley players allowed some young Hammers fans to sit on their bench to avoid the trouble that was going on in the stand directly behind them.

Moving on up

With the win, the Clarets moved onto 43 points, their highest total in the Premier League era, and briefly closed the gap behind Arsenal, before the Gunners beat Watford 3-0 at the Emirates on Sunday.

The Burnley manager continued to say: “We were that story of not winning in 11 and now we’ve lost one in six, so you can your mind up from that. I spoke to the players at half-time and there was a very good reaction.”

“I’m delighted because that’s 43 points, the highest number of points we’ve had in the Premier League era, with eight games to play,” Dyche finished.

Chelsea are playing in the FA Cup Quarter-Finals and with the International break starting the following week, Burnley are now not in action until the end of March, when they take on bottom club West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns.