OWEN Coyle is ready to shop for bargains in January, but concedes finding players of real Premier League quality on a ‘Championship budget’ will be a tough task.

The Burnley manager is keen to strengthen his squad when the transfer window opens in the New Year to boost the Clarets’ chances of survival.

But even though the coffers have been swelled since their play-off success, Coyle admitted his budget is still dwarfed by a number of clubs in the division they won promotion from.

“We’re a completely different entity to anybody in the Premier League, we’re not trying to do it with huge finances,” said Coyle ahead of tomorrow’s home game with Fulham. “There are far bigger budgets in the Championship.

“The differentials are huge. It’s like me in my (BMW) X5 parking it next to Jensen Button, and saying I’ll give him a race.

“We’re still shopping in the same market we were, a different one to anyone else.

“We would love to bring another one or two in to give the lads we’ve got a boost and bit of freshness when January comes, but finance will dictate that.

“Loans are an alternative, and there might be factors included in that, similar to David Nugent where there was a loan fee and we’re paying some of the salary.

“That’s something we might have to look at, but ultimately we’ll look to bring the right type of player in, whether we think they can help the players we’ve got, because that is important.

“They’re working their socks off day in, day out, and sometimes they need a little bit of help.”

But fees aren’t the only obstacle Coyle must overcome in his quest for new players.

Wages could also prove a deciding factor.

Yet as someone who moved clubs for less money at least four times to satisfy his need for first team football as a player himself, it’s a concept Coyle struggles to comprehend.

“If the chairman and Brendan were to come to me and say, ‘Listen, here’s £3/4m to go and sign a player’, you’re still between a rock and a hard place because as much as I believe we could spend that money very easily, there’s no representative would recommend their player to come and sign for the salary we’re paying,” he said.

“If money’s their god, they’ll be motivated by money, I personally was always motivated by football.

“I dropped salary four or five times because I wanted to play.

"I understand why people would rather sit where they are and pick up big salaries, but that’s not for me, and I wouldn’t want that type of player anyway.

“I believe if you play well, all the rewards come on the back of that.

“Bigger clubs will be eyeing them, and maybe take them beyond the level they’re at.

“I wouldn’t say that’s a calculated gamble, it’s a platform for players to show their quality.

“There will be Championship players earning more than we could pay them, and even if you admire them, they might think ‘Why would I want to go for less?’ “But we can give them an opportunity to play in the Premier League.”

And Coyle hopes Burnley’s top flight progress to date will provide the incentive for potential signings, rather than finance.

“It’s fair to say the majority of people - a landslide at the start of the season expected us to be bottom - but the lads have shown they are good enough to survive in the Premier League so far, and we have to continue in that form.

“I would hope that makes us a more attractive option, anyone sitting watching Burnley I would hope would look and think ‘that’s a good team, I love everything about them, the energy, the desire, even the atmosphere’.

“Hopefully they would think ‘that’s the sort of team I want to play in’.

“Again, it will come down to individuals and their motivation, but I would hope if that’s football, we’re an attractive proposition for anybody.”

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