Dyche Ready To Mix It Up For Cup

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2021-01-24T08:38:13.731Z

Dyche Ready To Mix It Up For Cup

2021-01-24T08:38:13.731Z

Sean Dyche is weighing up resting some of his Anfield heroes for the FA Cup tie at Fulham as he closes in on a full squad.

The Clarets boss promised a strong starting line-up at Craven Cottage for the fourth round tie, with the incentive for the winners of a home game against Bournemouth or Crawley Town.

And Dyche is looking to mix things up and keep the feel-good factor flowing days after the momentous win at Anfield.

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That could mean a return to the starting line-up for the likes of Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Jack Cork, Phil Bardsley, Dale Stephens and the possibility of mixing up his strike force.

“We will be looking at what we have available because we are very close to having a fully fit squad and there are very good players who are not playing at the moment,” said Dyche, who will just be without Charlie Taylor (hamstring).

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“I certainly believe in them and it’s very important we keep the players fit, not just for one game but games beyond this busy spell.

“So we will take a view on what side we can put together that we believe can win down at Fulham.

“We never, ever put out a team we don’t think can win. That’s miles away from my thinking.

“Sometimes it doesn’t go your way; the performance is not there or the other team performs better.

“We’ve all seen how the cup works and nobody has ever been able to quite put their finger on it.

“There are no guarantees, but I don’t for one minute expect us not to put a strong side out.”

Dyche reiterated that the Premier League remains the priority for the club.

But having progressed beyond the fourth round just once in nine years, he insisted it remains a cup he wants to do well in.

“We put out a very strong side in the last round and got through and we’ve never not taken the cup seriously,” said Dyche.

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“There are some challenges to it, because the Premier League does lot of good for the area in terms of kudos, as well as the finance involved.

“That just has to be factored into the business equation. If you take away the emotion, any business would look at the product that pays you more and gear up to that side of the market.

“That’s just business, but if you add in the emotion the fact is it’s a great competition.

“I grew up in an era and marvelled at FA Cup day. It has softened slightly because of the power of the Premier League, but it’s still a great competition.”

Clarets+ will have live commentary from Craven Cottage today from 2.15pm.