IT is a twist of fixture list fate that Burnley were pitted with Chelsea on the opening day.

After earning the moniker “Ginger Mourinho” as he plotted a path to promotion, Sean Dyche kicks off his Premier League career against Jose Mourinho.

But the Clarets boss does not pay too much attention to the chants and comparisons.

“It’s just a bit of fun. The fans started it a long time ago,” he said.

“I think there a nice connection between myself and the people of Burnley, and the players as well, but it’s not more than that. It's just a bit of banter.

“It’s for you all (the media) to make headlines, it doesn’t interest me. He’s a fantastic manager, he’s achieved at different clubs, he’s world-renowned.”

The only similarities, Dyche feels, come from what is at stake when they meet on Monday night.

“He’ll want to win, I’ll want to win, it’s just what it is,” he added.

“We’ll hopefully have a chat after the game and I’ll pick his brains, but that’s it.

“It’s just two blokes who want their team to win.”

Against a team tipped for the title this season, Dyche is fully aware it is a tall order. But, then again, what isn’t in the top flight?

“It’s a double-edged sword,” he said. “Who do you get in the Premier League that you think is going to be an easy one?”

But it does not faze the Burnley boss, who goes into the new season – his first at the top level at any stage of his career as both player and manager – as philosophical and pragmatic as ever.

What the Clarets lack in money in comparison to the other 19 teams, they make up for in mindset, by Dyche’s design.

“We look to control the controllables, we look to improve our analysis, look to push the boundaries with our dietary requirements, our training regimes, rest strategies – because that’s important,” he said.

“We’ll tick as many boxes as we can, and it works, to improve yourself as well as others.”

He added: “I bet most players have played in a team that has achieved something, so most players have a natural achievement in them. Sometimes it gets lost in everything that gets in the way.

“We remind them what we think is important, give them a lot of education.

“I think deeply about what I do and we try and use as many things as we can.”