BURNLEY boss Sean Dyche has thanked fans for standing by their team throughout a testing start to the season – and says their support is now more important than ever.

The Clarets were beaten 3-0 at Arsenal on Saturday to remain bottom of the Premier League table and without a win in 11 games in all competitions this term.

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But Burnley held out for 70 minutes at the Emirates and players were applauded off by the travelling supporters.

Dyche acknowledged the importance of a united front as the Clarets battle against the odds in the top flight, and says the fans have a crucial part to play as Burnley attempt to turn the tide.

“The fans have been terrific, fans question everything and if we don’t win then eventually of course they question that,” he said.

“But there’s a reality within it. We’ve spent about £6m and they know that and they know the reasons for it. We’re always honest, we’re always open.

“We’ve got a team that played against Arsenal that I think was about £7m in total.

“It’s a big challenge to challenge yourself against those types of players with that team – not an impossible one but it’s very, very difficult.

“Underlying within that, we’ve taken the fans on a journey and still are doing, which they possibly thought wasn’t going to come again.

“A year ago we sold Charlie Austin to make sure that the club could financially survive and move forward.

“We didn’t spend a penny for the first 18 months of my time here so there’s a reality behind the story, it’s just that most people don’t know about it.

“We know about it and the fans do, and I think it’s tremendous how they’re going about it at the minute - staying with the team, applauding the team and getting behind them.

“It will be needed going forward, home and away.”

Burnley’s next game is at home to Hull City on Saturday and, although knowing it will be far from easy, Dyche admits that such fixtures are more winnable for his side than an away match at Arsenal.

“We’ve got Hull next week and look at the money Steve Bruce has spent, they’re bringing in worldwide players so there’s no guarantee with any of these games,” he said.

“But I think there are teams that are more in our market than others of course.

"We know that (Arsenal) is not our real market. We've played six out of the top 10 so far, and we're not ready for them. We're ready for a different market and that wasn’t it on Saturday.

“Bu don’t get me wrong, I’ve always planned to win, we want to win these games.

“They’re the ones that you know are a real challenge but you still want to get points.

“We took a point off Man United at home with a very good performance, probably a bit of a similar performance to Saturday with good shape, good energy to it, good understanding of the task that needed to be done.

“But the quality got too much for us over the 90-odd minutes.

“We just came across who are top of the market, they’re a Champions League team, they’re playing there Tuesday.

“This is not our bigger picture challenge but we still want to perform.

“We’ve all seen surprise results in this division and we want to be part of that going forward.”

Dyche conceded that his side could have defended better for Arsenal’s goals.

"We could have not given away two soft goals, other than that I think the team operated in a very good manner,” he said.

“Tactically we delivered, certainly for 70 minutes. But they get their noses in front and it's very hard then. They're clinical, they have pace, cleverness and quality everywhere.

"You have to look at the quality of the cross and the quality of the run for the first goal, but the set play goal is a very poor one.

“It's a high state of learning myself as a young manager and the players are in, and we have to learn quickly.

"The first goal - sometimes there is a balance, and I think Sanchez was a couple of quid wasn't he?

"Usually, they are that much for a reason, and he was excellent all day."