Barton shows his gratitude to Dyche and Burnley

Joey Barton admitted he owed Burnley one after scoring the winner on his second debut for the Clarets on Saturday.

Barton climbed off the bench to score the winner for Sean Dyche’s side in their 1-0 win over Southampton.

The 34-year-old has re-joined the Clarets after a turbulent spell at Rangers in Scotland that ended prematurely.

And Barton hopes he has gone some way to expressing his gratitude to everyone at Turf Moor after his dramatic intervention.

“The gaffer here, the player and the fans – this football club has invested a lot in me the last few months, so to come on and make an impact and be part of this group is very, very important,” he said.

“To do what he did in view of what’s going on around me, and the circus that goes around me, it’s an incredible thing he did to bring me back.

(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“Hopefully doing that, and turning in performances week-in, week-out will repay some of that faith.

“But it’s a real collective effort and it’s just fantastic to be a part of this group again, to be back playing football again and to be in the Premier League.

“This a unique football club and unique group of people. You sometimes have to be not in the building to realise just how special that was and certainly I realised that in the summer.

“I’m very fortunate and feel very privileged to get the opportunity to come back and be part of this again.”