NATHAN Dyer has thanked Burnley for giving him the chance to make his first team breakthrough at Southampton.

The teenage winger is finally starting to make an impact at St Mary's and set up Dexter Blackstock's winner against Brighton on Monday.

The 2-1 victory came as huge relief to George Burley, as it was his forth win since taking charge last month and it was Dyer's form at Turf Moor which alerted the manager to his talents.

"I had a good time at Burnley and learned a lot," said Dyer, who only turned 18 at the end of November.

"It was good to be playing first team football and it was good experience for me.

"That is helping me now and, even though I enjoyed my time there, it was nice to be recalled by Southampton."

By the time Dyer returned south the boss who arranged his initial loan, Harry Redknapp, had resigned.

Although the now-Portsmouth manager didn't give Dyer a chance at first team level, the youngster has also thanked his old boss for giving him the opportunity to play in the Championship at another club - one which he grabbed with both hands.

Dyer said: "Harry Redknapp was good to me. He said some good things about me and I found him a decent manager.

"He said he had a lot of players and wanted me to get experience so he put me out on loan.

"But now I have to prove I am worth being recalled. I have been given a chance and it is up to me to take it."

Southampton's slump has left them in 14th place, five points behind eighth-placed Burnley.

The Saints were actually ahead of the Clarets in the table earlier in the season but thanks, in no small part, to Dyer who scored his first senior goal in their 2-1 win over Millwall the roles were soon reversed.

Now Dyer thinks his side can recover and use the south coast derby victory as a launchpad to better things.

He added: "I enjoyed the Brighton game and it felt so good to get a win - we really needed that.

"It has been a frustrating time but we have to keep going and once we get our injured players back I'm sure we can climb the table."