Dyche: Injury-hit Flanagan can find his feet at Burnley

Sean Dyche is confident Jon Flanagan can handle the Premier League pressure cooker with Burnley on a regular basis after being allowed to leave Liverpool on a season-long loan.

Cafu once claimed Flanagan had all the tools to be one of the best full-backs in the world, but the 23-year-old not been able to make good on the Brazilian great’s words after a career dogged by injuries thus far.

Since making 25 appearances in 2013-14, Flanagan has appeared just eight times competitively in a Liverpool shirt and has a painstaking knee reconstruction to blame for it.

Should his body hold up, the one-time England international could be a steal for the Clarets – and Dyche believes he has signed a player who is champing at the bit to prove himself.

“I think he’s eager to come through that period and get on with his football,” said Dyche, who revealed Flanagan is likely to make his debut against Chelsea on August 27.

“He’s still quite young, but he’s had the big end of the experience, playing in the side that pushed it so close to winning it, so I think that experience is worth a lot.

“He’s played in some really big and important games.

 (Photo by Nigel Roddis/Getty Images)

“He’s playing at a big club, who at that time were competing right at the top end of it, so there’s enormous pressure and stress.

“He’s certainly shown he can do that, but we’ll get him fit and ready and mixed in with the group.

“We felt we were lightish across the back line. We are in other areas as well that we’re active with.

“He can play either full-back position, he has played in both.”