There was relief last night that Burnley had retained the services of Northern Ireland international Kyle Lafferty.

Celtic failed to improve the £3million-plus offer that was rejected by the Clarets.

"I've got to say, it was a very good offer from Celtic, well over £3m, but we turned it down," said manager Owen Coyle. "For the club to do that speaks volumes.

"Riordan was mentioned in that package. We put in a £400,000 bid for him, which is still there, so if they were to come back to us, it would be a single deal for Riordan, but that is out of my hands."

He added: "I speak to all my players and let them know, nothing will happen to my players behind their back, they will hear from me first.

"I did that with Kyle. I could understand where he would be coming from, because Celtic are a big, big club, but equally I said to him he has improvement in him, and I think it wouldn't do him any harm to spend another year here.

"We want to develop Kyle and get him doing well for the club, and those clubs will still be there in six months time.

"There's always a gamble with a young player, and it's only natural your head will be turned by a club of that size, but what he has to do is focus on what he's doing here, and take his game on to another level.

"That interest will magnify tenfold if he's doing the business for Burnley."