Defour is close to his best for Burnley, says Dyche

Burnley manager Sean Dyche believes Steven Defour is getting close to his very best in English football, after the Belgian international’s goal helped the Clarets ease past Bristol City in the FA Cup.

The 28-year-old, who signed from Anderlecht last summer for a club-record £8million fee, capped off a man-of-the-match showing in Burnley’s fourth-round triumph with a sublime goal to kill off the Robins.

Sam Vokes had opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time, his 50th goal for the club, but Defour made the result certain when he audaciously scooped the ball over an astonished Fabian Giefer in the Bristol goal.

And Dyche insists his talisman is now going from strength to strength at Turf Moor.

“What a fantastic finish,” he said. “It was absolutely sublime and a marvellous moment following a very good team performance.

“To kill a game off with a finish like that is exceptional. Steven deserves all the plaudits he gets this weekend and hopefully it’s lots of them.

“Steven makes good runs anyway, we know that, but he’s just found that moment of clarity that comes with quality players and it’s just a sublime finish, It’s as simple as that.

“He is a top quality footballer, but English football is different and the Premier League is different. It can be highly technical and highly physical and very demanding with the amount of distance you cover.

“I said at the start of the season it would take time, but he is adjusting and I think he’s getting there.

“We are seeing clear signs of him showing what he and we need and he’s doing a good job of that.”