BURNLEY’S ‘bulldog spirit’ is winning over neutrals who want them to stay in the Premier League, according to boss Sean Dyche.

The Clarets chief said his side were becoming the people’s champions due to their underdog story and the way they have attacked teams in the top flight.

Dyche said he was getting fans of other clubs regularly coming up to him on scouting missions and praising Burnley, most recently when he was at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday to watch Barcelona beat Man City 2-1.

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And he thinks that old-fashioned British values are being brought back to life by the exploits of his team, who continue to outrun opponents on a weekly basis and bloody the noses of Premier League regulars.

“I was at Man City-Barcelona the other night and loads of Man City fans came up and said ‘I hope you do it’, ‘you lads have done well’,” he said.

“We’ve got to remember there is a story beyond the story and that is we were written off at the beginning of the season, written off after game 10 and still in the fight.

“I think there is a stiff upper lip mentality to that, with British fans and English fans, that kind of underdog spirit and bulldog spirit back in the day, that kind of thing.

“I think it’s still there, it just needs igniting once in a while, and maybe, maybe people deem us to be part of that.”

Dyche believes that his all British squad has played a major part in winning over neutral fans, but he also meets plenty of supporters of other clubs who remember Burnley’s heyday in the 1960s.

“When I go round the grounds, I’ve been to Anfield, United, City, most of the ones in the north, your general fan who’s just keeping an eye on what’s going on, they seem to have that good feel about us,” said the Burnley boss.

“Maybe that’s part of the British group we’ve got. There’s a bit of that, and I think they quite like the story.

“A lot are of the generation where Burnley was what it was in the past, that bigger club, playing against Man United in the 50s and 60s, a lot of fans are that kind of age.

“But what’s interesting is you’re getting the younger fans who are a bit more like that who are saying ‘you’re doing brilliant’, ‘I hope you keep going’, ‘I hope you stay in the Premier League’.

With the older fans they remember when Burnley was previously a big club.”

Dyche admits that having neutrals rooting for you doesn’t count for anything on the pitch, but he is pleased that his side have done enough to win over fans across the country.

And he think their revival from failing to win any of their first 10 league games to being in with a chance of survival with 12 games to go has played a part in that.

“It is nice, it doesn’t win you a match mind,” he said.

“I’d prefer to win loads of matches, but it is nice that people keep an eye on what’s going on and have that kind of feeling about it.

“It’s the British way, we all love an underdog, Brits particularly, generally love an underdog. You get to a tipping point where they go ‘hang on a minute, that’s enough’, now let’s see if they can rise, and I think we’ve had a little about of that.

“We were told no chance, no chance, no chance, then hang on a minute there’s signs of life there, let’s get behind them.”