Burnley boss Sean Dyche hopes Antonio Conte takes a little while longer to settle into his new role as Tottenham manager as the two sides meet at Turf Moor on Sunday.
Conte made a winning start against Leeds last week but Tottenham slipped to an embarrassing defeat on Thursday to Europa Conference League minnows NS Mura in Slovenia.
The former Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan manager admitted afterwards that “the level at Tottenham is not so high” and Dyche is keen to cash in on any uncertainty.
Dyche said: “It will be helpful if it does take time because we play them very quickly.
“There’s no two ways about the manager knowing his stuff and to be honest, the players know their stuff.
“It’s just sometimes you need the connection between what you’re trying to achieve tactically, a change of culture, change of manager, and getting the best out of the players.
“The manager needs to get the best out of them, that’s his job, and his record suggests he will over time.
“I really hope he doesn’t this weekend, that would be helpful, but they don’t lack talent that’s for sure.”
Burnley have lost only one of their last seven league games but remain in the bottom three, while Conte will be demanding a positive reaction from his players.
Dyche said: “We’re going to have to be well aware of the strengths they’ve got.
“But equally, we’re on a nice little run. Our performances – I’ve said most of the season actually, but certainly recently – we look a threat, we can score goals at the moment.
“We still focus on ourselves and obviously we are aware of a change of manager, change of culture at Tottenham, so that may take time.”
Burnley’s solitary league win this season was against Brentford at the end of October and they have drawn six other top-flight matches.
“Often it’s been down to taking chances, not about managing the game, more about chances created that we haven’t taken,” Dyche said.
“We’re looking more of a threat over the last couple of weeks, probably four or five games, that’s for sure.
“Early season, we were actually playing pretty well, I felt, but the balance has to be right at both ends and we’ve tightened that up a little bit.”
The Clarets will be without suspended pair James Tarkowski and Ashley Westwood but both Jay Rodriguez and Matej Vydra are expected to overcome “a bit of muscle tightness”.
Dyche confirmed striker Ashley Barnes is likely to be out for several weeks after missing last Saturday’s 3-3 home draw against Crystal Palace due to a torn thigh muscle.
