GEORGE Boyd has challenged Burnley to make the most of their Turf Moor-heavy opening to the Premier League season and put the slow start of two years firmly behind them.

The Clarets stumbled off the start line two years ago and had to wait until November 8, their 10th top flight game of the season, to record a first win, beating Hull City.

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That left them playing catch-up for the rest of the season, and although they managed to hold the five-point gap to 17th throughout the next 28 games, they couldn’t drag themselves out of trouble.

This time around they begin with five of their first seven Premier League games at Turf Moor due to the switch of venue for the clash with Liverpool on the second weekend of the season, with the Main Stand at Anfield undergoing reconstruction work this summer.

And Boyd knows a quick getaway this time around could be imperative in the battle for survival, with the season opening with a home fixture against Swansea on August 13.

“Five of our first seven are at home so it’s important to get off to a good start,” said the former Hull City man.

“That was our downfall last time, we didn’t win the first 10, when we did get that win the confidence built massively.”

After beating Hull in the last top-flight season the Clarets were winners again next time out, at Stoke, and Boyd believes the squad, many of who featured in that Premier League campaign of two years ago, can take confidence from how they fought back after a slow start.

“From the 10th game we’d have cruised it if we’d managed that form earlier on,” Boyd said.

“We’ll take great confidence from that and the experience will be good, it’s mostly the same squad as last time with a few additions.

“The experience has helped and that has made everyone a better player than two years ago.”

Burnley finished last season with a 23-game unbeaten league run that took them from fifth on Boxing Day to the title in May, and will be desperate to extend that record by at least one at the start of this season as they seek a bright opening to a third Premier League campaign since 2009/10.

The Clarets were relegated in both of those seasons, and having written their name into the history books last year, Boyd wants this squad to carry that on this term.

“I’ve forgotten what it’s like to lose,” he said. “We don’t know how to lose at the moment.

“Obviously that will come but we’ll take confidence. We’ve got the team structure and that’s why we were so hard to beat last season.

“Last year we broke a lot of history records so it will be good to do that again next year (and survive).

“I don’t think we can just aim for 17th, we can aim higher, the first marker is to survive but we can do better than that.”