TURF Moor legend Leighton James says Burnley should look to Swansea City for inspiration as they attempt to establish themselves as a Premier League force.

The Welsh winger, who enjoyed three spells with the Clarets, admits avoiding the drop would be a good start for Sean Dyche’s side.

But he is confident they will have learned from their last sortie into the top flight and can emulate the sensible approach of his hometown club in keeping themselves financially healthy while trying to get a foothold among the mega-rich.

Burnley are set to pocket as much as £170million next season thanks to the bumper new TV deal.

Last time they went up, for the 2014-15 season, the decision was taken to use the cash to pay off debts and invest in developing the Gawthorpe training complex.

Swansea have spent five years in the Premier League are are seen as a well-run club who have stabilised since their re-emergence from the lower reaches of the Football League.

And James revealed that Clarets officials asked him for advice when they last travelled to the Liberty Stadium.

The 63-year-old said: “The last time they came up, their first away game was down at Swansea and I spoke to a few of the Burnley directors.

“They were asking me how Swansea had managed to do what they’d done, and I said, ‘Because they don’t go in the red; they don’t spend money they haven’t got’.

“If it costs you relegation in the short term, you’re not going down furnishing a debt.

“Because every pound that you make for the following season, if you’re wasting that paying off a debt, it’s money for nothing.

“But if you are in the black and doing well, get good crowds, you get high expectations.

“If Burnley stay up this time, which I sincerely hope they do, it will be an improvement on last time. That’s how you’ve got to look at it.

“They’re not going to win the league, do a Leicester, it’s not going to happen. I don’t think Leicester expect it to happen again.

“Realistically, if Burnley are 16th, 17th at the end of the season, on goal difference or points or whatever, they’ll have had a great season and will be in a great position to build on, which is exactly what Swansea did. Bournemouth are exactly the same.

“You secure your Premier League status in your first season up, then you build on it from there.

“Yes, you will have bad times. Swansea have had, by their recent standards, a very poor season this year and yet they recovered well enough to finish 12th.

“If Burnley could match that sort of season, that would be wonderful for them.”

The former Wales international, who won 54 caps for his country and is currently enjoying seeing Chris Coleman’s side impress at Euro 2016, also praised Clarets boss Sean Dyche for guiding his side to the Championship title last season.

And he’s confident the manager will have learned lessons from his last spell in the Premier League.

He added: “Last season was marvellous. You can’t do more than win the title.

“Whatever division you’re in, from day one everybody’s ambition is to win the division they’re in.

“Realistically, Burnley’s ambition this time will be to keep out of the bottom three at the end of the season.

“If they finish 17th on goal difference after the last game of the season, everybody should be happy because they’ve secured Premier League football for another season.

“It didn’t happen the last time. Maybe Sean and his staff will learn from the mistakes of last time and will do a better job this time.

“But I think they have learned from those mistakes and they will be a better, more formidable team in the Premier League this year.”