Without Michael Keane at the back, a series of costly defensive errors proved costly for Burnley at the weekend as they came unstuck against Bournemouth.
The game looked set to end in a stalemate when Sam Vokes thumped in a header with seven minutes left on the clock to cancel out Junior Stanislas' first-half opener. However, a goal from Josh King proved to be the difference between the two sides, with the forward getting the better of James Tarkowski.
Dyche defends defensive understudies
Centre-back partner Kevin Long was given just his second Premier League appearance of the season after featuring against West Brom last weekend. He struggled throughout the match, being dragged out wide by Ryan Fraser to leave King one-on-one with his teammate. However, Sean Dyche defended his players despite their errors during the match.
"We've got two centre-halves who are learning, they're getting a connectionm but they just got too distant for the second goal. We've had some really big, important games recently, and we just couldn't quite get up for things in the second half.
"We were on the back foot a little bit and didn't really take on the challenge. We scored a late goal, could have nicked something, but the two goals we conceded - particularly the second - were really poor."
Defeat not a reflection of the season
While not mathematically safe, Burnley are set to retain their place in England's top-flight due to their superior goal difference over Hull City. The Clarets boss believes that the weekends defeat was not a true reflection on the efforts the team has made over the course of the campaign.
"It's hard to be too critical of these players, they've taken the club a long way in the last few years and particularly this season when we were given no chance at all,"
"I'm not overthinking things today. Sometimes it's just one game too many."
"It's fantastic for the club, for the supporters, despite not having the best away record. I just think it's fantastic for the town. It's such a tough division to get into and then staying in it for a club like ours is a big challenge," concluded Dyche.