CAPTAIN Tom Heaton believes Sean Dyche has the ‘secret’ to the dressing room unity that has propelled Burnley to success under his reign.

The Burnley stopper insists that togetherness has been a crucial factor in Burnley’s two promotions since Dyche took over at Turf Moor in October 2012, and now their rise to the top half of the Premier League table.

While Heaton said the players try and set the right tone at the club, he praised Dyche’s influence in creating a tight bond that can see them through close matches.

“You need the right character of players, we try and police ourselves the best we can,” said the 30-year-old.

“You set the rules and give the freedom to do it. It’s more the manager than me, he’s got the secret because we’ve had it since I’ve been at the club, more than so anywhere else I’ve been in the game.

“I think everyone says that, even the players that leave, they miss that, everyone pulling in the same direction.

“We’ve got it and it’s important we safeguard it and keep it going.”

Burnley’s victory over Southampton a week ago took them into 10th in the Premier League and made Dyche the leading English manager in the country at the moment.

But the Clarets chief has rarely attracted as much praise as Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe, despite achieving the success at Turf Moor on a much smaller budget than Howe’s on the south coast.

“I don’t know too much about the wider perception, all I can give you is my own and he’s been absolutely incredible,” Heaton said of his boss.

“The job he’s done with the club, the players, how things have moved forward, the infrastructure away from the ground. It’s difficult for me to speak highly enough of him.

“I’d be surprised if there wasn’t only positive things coming out of it from people’s perception, and if that wasn’t the case I’d urge them to take a closer look.”

Dyche has occasionally been branded as old-fashioned in his approach, but Heaton added: “I wouldn’t ever try to put a pigeon hole on it. We’re flexible in our thinking, that’s how he comes across.

“He’s flexible with how we go about the game, different formations and things like that. Old fashioned is ridiculous to me, there’s a lot of science behind it, I think that would be way off the mark.”