Burnley caretaker boss Mike Jackson says Sean Dyche’s shock sacking has given the players a ‘jolt’

Burnley caretaker boss Mike Jackson believes the sacking of Sean Dyche may have been the wake-up call his players needed in their battle against relegation.

The Clarets have won only four Premier League games all season and are four points adrift of safety with seven games remaining.

Dyche paid the price for their poor form last Friday when the club ended his nine-and-a-half-year reign.

Burnley caretaker boss Mike Jackson (L) says Sean Dyche’s sacking has given the team a ‘jolt’

Dyche was axed last week after winning admirers for his work at Turf Moor for the last ten years

‘That can be a trigger for a team,’ Jackson said, ‘It gives them a jolt. They think, “This is where we’re at. What do we do now? Do we sit and wallow or do we come together and take on that challenge?”. From what I’ve seen so far that’s what they’ve done.’ 

‘I have been pleased with the players and you are always looking to see how players respond to what is around them, and the response we have seen in training and within the game, when you have been in football a long time you get a feel for the group and how they are feeling.

‘It is like sixth sense and you can judge a dressing room, and at the moment I can see a group pulling together.’ 

Jackson said he did not know how much longer he would remain in charge. Chairman Alan Pace has asked the 48-year-old to oversee tonight’s match at home to Southampton.

Burnley have struggled but Jackson feels the change can be the ‘trigger’ to help them survive

‘I spoke to him and he thanked everyone for the West Ham game, and said he would like us to take charge of this game, and he’d let me know in due course.

‘I am trying to focus on what we are doing now, and I cannot affect what is going to happen in two or three days time.

‘If I tried to live in the future the you can’t do that, I have to live in the moment. That is the way football is.

‘It is not an everyday conversation. It is where we are at and what they would like me to do. The whole staff has pulled together and is mucking in.’

Jackson remains confident Burnley can avoid the drop. He insisted: ‘Definitely I believe it. I think this group is good enough.’

BURNLEY v SOUTHAMPTON, 7.45pm, Turf Moor, LIVE on Sky Sports Main Event.