THE visit of Southampton to Turf Moor tomorrow begins a run of five successive league games against top half clubs for the Clarets.

While boss Sean Dyche is refusing to set targets for the tricky festive fixture programme, he is looking forward to pitting his wits against Ronald Koeman, the Saints Dutch manager who has impressed in the job so far this season.

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While Koeman has received widespread praise for the way he has steered the south coast club to the upper echelons of the league despite losing a string of players over the summer, Dyche is hoping that the experience of coming to Turf Moor will be prove to be a shock to the system for them.

The Saints were second two and a half weeks ago but three successive defeats against Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United have seen them drop down to fifth in the league after their promising start.

Despite the disappointing run Dyche is impressed by the work of his Dutch compatriot.

“He’s done a fine job so far,” said the Burnley manager. “He took over a club that was obviously in transition regarding the player trading side and a lot was made out of that and where the team would go.

“They’ve brought in money and used money wisely to bring in some players he wanted and they look like a fine side.

“They’ve had a little blip at the moment but they’ve played the big boys of the division. He’s doing a great job, that’s how it looks to me. They can play in different ways and so far, so good for him.”

Dyche is hoping that the trip to Turf Moor, a new experience for Koeman and most of his squad, will be a chance to pile on the misery for the visitors.

Southampton will be without former Claret Jay Rodriguez and despite recent defeats the Saints record against bottom half teams is impressive, with 17 points taken from a possible 21 and 15 goals scored with just two conceded.

“He’s (Koeman) coming to Turf Moor that’s a challenge for them,” said Dyche.

“It’s a good one for us to go and pit our wits against those types of players and that type of manager.

“They maybe felt they’re on a roll, getting to grips with it then they come across some really powerful teams and it suddenly becomes more difficult.”

After Saturday the Clarets face a trip to Tottenham, a Boxing Day visit of Liverpool to Turf Moor, and then away games against Manchester City and Newcastle.

It’s a testing run for Sean Dyche’s side. When it comes to an end they will have played 20 league games and will have a better idea of what is required from them in the second half of the season to secure Premier League survival.

But the manager is refusing to look ahead and set his side a target of where they need to be heading into the New Year.

“You can’t over think every game, you focus and concentrate on what you want to do, to take us in the right direction to win,” said Dyche.

“We can’t plan for three or five games’ time, that’s for the superpowers - not to say they do that but they have very deep squads.”