Crucially, the Clarets have three of those matches at Turf Moor, starting with the visit of Everton on Boxing Day, followed by a home game against West Ham to see out the year, four days later.

Fulham are the first visitors of the new year, sandwiched in between league games at Huddersfield Town and Watford.

And Dyche, whose side sit 18^th in the Premier League at Christmas, appreciates the importance of the upcoming games.

He said: “We’ve had three of the last four games against the big guns and we know that’s tough.

“You can play well and still get beat, but I think the next five games are ones where we have to start taking points from.

“Performances are pretty strong overall, but we have to start taking points from the coming games, without a doubt.”

Dyche is hopeful of having wingers Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Robbie Brady available to face the Toffees, who lost 2-6 at home to Spurs on Sunday.

Icelandic international Gudmundsson has been troubled with a hamstring injury sustained in the home win over Brighton, while Irishman Brady aggravated a calf in the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

We thought the two wide men were going to be fine for Arsenal, but with the amount of games coming up in this period, we just couldn’t risk them,” explained Dyche, who played with two wing-backs and three central midfielders in support of a twin-pronged strike force at the Emirates.

“That led to a change of shape, but I felt it worked, and it’s just unfortunate that every time we get close to having players fit again we get injuries.”

POS	Team	PL	PTS
15	FOR	5	5
16	BUR	5	4
17	BRE	5	4

POS	Team	PL	PTS
15	FOR	5	5
16	BUR	5	4
17	BRE	5	4

Dyche: Time to Make a Point

Premier League table

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