Sean Dyche believes his Burnley players are ready to embrace the challenge of battling for Europa League qualification despite a threadbare squad.

The Clarets made it back-to-back wins with a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace on Monday after captain Ben Mee scored his first goal since January 2017.

It moved the Turf Moor outfit up to eighth in the Premier League and level on points with Tottenham sparking talk they could return to Europe after finishing seventh two seasons ago.

Dyche was again only able to name seven substitutes at Selhurst Park, with Jeff Hendrick, Joe Hart and Aaron Lennon no longer at the club and Chris Wood, Ashley Barnes, Jay Rodriguez, Robbie Brady, Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Matt Lowton on the treatment table.

He said: “Having been through it (Europa League), it is very tough and you can’t really speak about it at the moment because you’ve seen how few players we’ve got so that obviously has to be addressed.

“That is a different ball game over the next few months and common sense.

“When you talk about the Europa, for the grandeur of a club like us making it is considerable.

“It does cause a lot of mental challenges. Of course we’ll have a short break in the summer as well this season because of what has gone on with the Covid-19 situation, so a lot of challenges.

“But the way we’ve built the mentality here is to keep winning or to tend to keep winning.

“It is not easy obviously but I think the players are open-minded and they will take each challenge as it comes.”

Jack Cork added to Burnley’s problems by coming off with an ankle injury at Palace, while right-back Lowton is set for an extended period on the sidelines with a foot issue.

Forward Rodriguez could return for the visit of Sheffield United on Sunday and Brady, Wood and Gudmundsson will be assessed.

Dyche added: “I think the main thing is that’s 13 clean sheets and 13 wins. That sounds pretty good to me.

“If you get both ends of the pitch right, you’re probably going to have a decent season. It is one of those things that is awkward now because of the player situation.

“If we had the players with us, I think we could go even stronger until the end of the season.”