SEAN Dyche has showered praise on Michael Keane after the defender produced a stoic performance to help Burnley hang on to victory at Stoke City on Saturday.

Keane has had to be content with a back-up role since moving to Burnley on loan on September 1, in a deal that expires at the beginning of January.

The 21-year-old might have had opportunities to feature at parent club Manchester United, such have been their injury problems in defence recently, but he had played only four minutes for Burnley before the weekend match at Stoke.

Keane, though, was introduced for the final 14 minutes at the Britannia Stadium after an injury to fellow centre back Michael Duff.

The Clarets were already facing a Stoke onslaught by then as they attempted to hold on to a 2-1 lead, but they held out to claim victory.

“Some of the younger players are learning a lot,” said Burnley boss Dyche.

Keano came on and what a fantastic performance that was from the young man.

“Trust me, I was a centre half and that was an ugly game to come into.

“I thought he was terrific for however many minutes he was on.

“That was a big growth for him as a young man. He made a couple of big headers.

“You’re at your highest learning curve when you’re playing first team football and never more so than at this level.”