BURNLEY will come up against one of the summer transfer targets that got away tomorrow with James McArthur set to make his Crystal Palace debut.

The Clarets made a bid of around £4million for the Scottish international midfielder in the final two weeks of the summer transfer window, but it was knocked back by Wigan Athletic.

Instead the 26-year-old ended up signing for Palace on a three-year contract for a fee of around £7million on deadline day.

There were three new arrivals at Turf Moor on September 1, with George Boyd, Michael Keane and Nathaniel Chalobah coming in, but boss Sean Dyche admitted more could well have arrived.

“A couple of situations went away from us very quickly,” he said. “The numbers escalated rapidly.

“We have certain financial parameters to work within and we are clear on doing that. We are happy with the business we've done.

“We've got demand more or less all over the pitch, there's no safety net for players wondering about their shirt and we wanted that.”

The Clarets spent a total of around £8million over the summer, with only Aston Villa and Stoke splashing out less.

It might be a far cry from the £153.1million spent at Old Trafford, but Dyche accepts that Burnley have to watch the bottom line, and he feels a responsibility to make sure the club remains financially stable.

Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules should mean a more level playing field for the clubs in the future, but the Clarets boss admits he is unsure how the system will work.

“The only interesting thing that will open up over time is the idea of FFP,” he said.

“We hear all these massive figures being bandied around of clubs getting fined and I never know where the money's coming from and where it's got to.

“It just seems a bizarre situation. We can only take care of our own business, we believe in what we do here.

“The board have made it quite clear of how they want to structure the finances.

“It's challenging for me as a manager, I'm not naïve, it’s hard because you want to raise the quality level.

“But I'm a young manager who believes clubs have to work in the right manner and I believe we do here.”