SUPPORTERS’ player of the year Ben Mee is a shining example of what this Burnley squad are all about, according to his manager Sean Dyche.

Mee won six of the 12 supporters clubs’ player of the year honours on Tuesday night, with Joey Barton claiming four and Michael Keane and Andre Gray one each.

While Dyche was pleased to see the awards spread out amongst his squad, he also praised 26-year-old Mee, who has started every league game this season and made the move from left-back to centre-back before the Clarets began their 21-game unbeaten run.

“He’s encapsulated what the team is about, a good consistent level, a high level of performance and a real will and demand to do things properly,” Dyche said of the player who has made the centre back position his own.

“I like to think that’s the culture we set and the environment, he’s showing good signs of those core values.

“He’s a maturing player, he’s becoming more and more rounded.”

When Mee arrived at Turf Moor, first on loan for the 2011/12 season and then on a permanent basis, he came having played virtually all of his youth football at the heart of defence, but initially had to make his mark on the side at left-back.

But Dyche has always been aware he was likely to have to move the former Manchester City trainee across at some point in his tenure.

“I said at the time I’ve always known Ben as a centre-half, in my one of my first youth games at Watford he played for Man City, he was a centre back then,” he said.

“He did so well for us at left-back we kept him there. I knew deep down at some point he’d probably become a centre back and play there for a while.

“When I made the change it was something I’d had in the back of my mind for a long time and I’m very pleased with how he’s performed there.”

Mee’s move across to the heart of defence came after the 3-0 defeat at Hull on Boxing Day, as Stephen Ward came it at full-back and Michael Duff made way.

Duff, and January signing James Tarkorwski, have been unable to shift either Mee or Keane since then, aside from when Keane suffered an injury, with the pair keeping three clean sheets in their first three league games together.

Of his decision to make the switch then, Dyche said: “There was the timing of it, the two games with a quick turnaround (Hull and Bristol City two days later).

“With Duffo being at the age he was I told him I always had in mind he would only play one of the two days in three games.

“We won comfortably with a very strong performance in the next game so I thought it should go again, then we won comfortably again and we were strong again. So you think ‘just leave it alone’, it was more a case of that and the strength of the back five from then on.

“It was strong before that but it gathered pace and got stronger.

“Sometimes the bravest and strongest thing you do as a manager is do nothing.”

Four players took overall honours at the supporters event, with Scott Arfield winning all five goal of the season awards, three for his winner at Ewood Park and two for his strike at Brentford.

“I was pleased to see it was spread out because there’s been some really good performance for different reasons this year,” said Dyche.

“The main two were Ben and Joey who’ve done fantastically well, but there’s other good signs of real high level performances, it was recognised by the PFA team of the year with four players being in there.

The players are giving a good account of themselves, I’ve been very pleased, on and off the pitch, how they conduct themselves and how we play.”