Drinkwater is fit but will need to battle for his Burnley place – Dyche

Danny Drinkwater is fit enough to come straight into contention for Burnley but he has a job on his hands persuading manager Sean Dyche to put him in the starting line-up.The former England midfielder joined the Clarets on Thursday on a loan deal from Chelsea until January and, on his best form, his quality would clearly be a big asset to Dyches men.But the Burnley boss is known as a manager who keeps faith with players producing results and it would be a surprise if he does not select the same XI for next weeks trip to Arsenal after a 3-0 victory over Southampton provided a perfect start to the season.Drinkwater joined Chelsea two years ago after playing a key role in Leicesters Premier League title win but was frozen out last season at Stamford Bridge, with his only appearance coming in the Community Shield a year ago.Dyche said: Hes actually come in and hes fit. Weve tested him, so hes more getting used to us. I wasnt going to throw him in today no matter what.He knows hes got work now. Hell have watched that today and hell have thought, right, OK, its game on, its not just bowling in and getting in the side.Which he wouldnt think anyway, hes got a good manner to him and I like the way hes got an edge.We want competition. It has to be respectful and I think theres a bundle of respect here for each other as players.With Charlie Taylor still playing catch-up after a pre-season injury, Dyche gave summer signing Erik Pieters a full debut at left-back and the former Stoke man seized his opportunity, setting up two goals for Ashley Barnes.Striker Jay Rodriguez, meanwhile, had to make do with a place on the bench following his return to his home-town club and was given a noisy welcome when he came on as a late substitute.Eriks laid down a real marker, said Dyche. Hes come in with that real edge to him. He hasnt come in expecting to play, equally he hasnt come in thinking hes not going to play, hes had a real open mind.With Jay, obviously weve got two strikers who were terrific for us last season, both got goals. Hell get plenty of football, Im sure of that. I like the combination.Dyche also praised defender James Tarkowski after the Clarets rebuffed interest from Leicester before the window closed.Theres been a lot of noise outside of our camp, to stay focused on the job, as he has done, total respect for him, added Dyche.Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl gave a debut to striker Che Adams and will spent the next week analysing his latest signing, defender Kevin Danso, who is due to meet up with his new team-mates following his loan move from FC Augsburg.Well have a look, said Hasenhuttl. We will work with him during the week, well show him how we want to play.Its important for us to have more alternatives in the defence not only this game showed that we have to. Im happy that hes here.On Adams debut following his move from Birmingham, the manager added:Not an easy game for him. He worked a lot in the first line, also against the ball. He was a little bit unlucky. He showed in pre-season that he can score for us but the balls we played in front were not really that precise.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
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