JOHN Banaszkiewicz believes that Burnley have the right man to take them back up to the Premier League in Sean Dyche, and stressed the importance of holding on to him next season.

Dyche was Banaszkiewicz’s first managerial appointment as co-chairman, alongside Mike Garlick, soon after the duo replaced long-standing chairman Barry Kilby.

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The former Watford boss was named as Eddie Howe’s successor after an intense interview process in October 2012.

Dyche went on to guide the Clarets to promotion at the end of his first full season in charge.

Banaszkiewicz – who announced this week he has stepped down as co-chairman for family and business reasons, but will retain his shareholding and will remain as a board member – is confident the 43-year-old can orchestrate a swift return.

And the Nelson-born businessman feels it is imperative that the club retains his services in their efforts to mount another promotion push.

Dyche’s name will inevitably be mentioned with high profile vacancies for the manner in which he made Burnley a Championship force on a modest budget and oversaw memorable Premier League results against Manchester United and Chelsea, while four of their 33 points were taken from defending champions Manchester City, but Banaszkiewicz said: “It’s important to keep hold of him and as I’ve said before I don’t think he’s going anywhere.

“He’s a critical ingredient to Burnley next season.

“He’s important to us getting promoted.”

And Banaszkiewicz is delighted how his first, and now only, managerial appointment as co-chairman panned out.

“He was our managerial appointment and we probably used a bit of experience coming from the business world because we interviewed lots of people, using Mike’s experience in recruitment, and brought the stand-out candidate to the club,” he said.

“The most important position is the manager. If you get that right it’s half the battle.

“He has gelled with the town and has become one of us. He has been a little bit ‘Burnley-fied’.”

But Banaszkiewicz has been especially impressed with the manager’s endeavours on the training ground in order to carry their skill and strong work ethic through to matchdays.

“He has been able to get those players from third or fourth gear into sixth gear and got the best out of the players.

“You can’t knock their effort.

“If we can keep the bulk of that squad and that approach for next season we will do well.”