"I think we are capable of scoring more," says Burnley boss Sean Dyche

Burnley have managed just 14 goals in the Premier League this season, which is the lowest return in all four divisions.

Five of those have come away from Turf Moor with only League Two Southend faring just as badly on their travels.

"I think it just reflects what a big challenge it is for us," said Dyche. "Given the start we had, the points total is a pretty good one.

"We only had two points on the board in total after seven games, and when you get so few points it’s obvious that you’re not scoring goals.

"We were playing catch-up, and after that I would imagine our return has been pretty much what you would expect in a normal Premier League season for us.

"I know that even since things picked up we haven’t been what you could call 'free-scoring' – even in our world - but the other side of the coin is that we have been creating more quality chances.

"I’m not interested in forty yarders, but the number of genuine chances has been getting better.

"But you’ve got to put them away. Simple as that. Goals change games, and the mentality is always to go out and score, not just to defend."

Dyche's men have drawn a blank in all but four of their games on the road in the top-flight this term.

But they've also kept five clean sheets - including those at the Emirates and Anfield, on their way to collecting nine points.

And the Burnley boss is confident that the goals will come to help tip the balance in their favour more often.

He has proven goalscorers in his squad with Chris Wood, Ashley Barnes and Jay Rodriguez hitting 120 Premier League goals between them.

Dyche said: "It’s a trade-off. We may not have been scoring many, but the number of points we’ve earned away from home is still pretty decent.

"It’s still hard to pick up points, even though the stats show it’s a bit different with no crowds. You still have to earn everything you get.

"And do I think we are capable of scoring more, definitely. Against Brighton we had our highest number of chances, with 20 attempts on goal, with seven on target, and to me that shows we are capable of being creative in front of goal.

"If you keep doing that, I would suggest you will score more goals. We’ve got strikers who have proved they can score goals at this level, and I’m confident they will start to convert more of those opportunities, as they have in the past.

"But I know scoring goals is the hardest job in football, especially against defences as well organised as we come up against all the time in the Premier League."

Staying true to form the Clarets picked off Crystal Palace on their last visit to Selhurst Park after Project Restart.

Dyche's squad was stretched to its limits last summer. Wood, Barnes and Rodriguez were sidelined alongside Johann Berg Gudmundsson, Robbie Brady and Matt Lowton while Jeff Hendrick and Aaron Lennon departed.

The Clarets chief was forced to make up the numbers by naming two goalkeepers on the bench (Bailey Peacock-Farrell and Lukas Jensen) with youngsters Jimmy Dunne, Bobby Thomas, Mace Goodridge and Max Thompson also selected.

However, the away side produced one of Dyche's favourite moments in his time at the helm as captain Ben Mee scored a second half winner.

"The reason for that is because we were so stretched at the time having played game after game," said Dyche. "We've been stretched this season.

"We were playing Erik Pieters in right midfield, left midfield, left back and right back in one game. It was just crazy.

"We had Dwight McNeil in the number 10 spot then out wide, Vyds was up front on his own, so we were physically just trying to put as many players as we could on a football pitch, which we felt could operate.

"We had Browny wide right that day and Corky game off injured, which was a loss. With all that considered I thought we gave such a good performance.

"We were excellent in the first half, really took the game on and then in the second half we really had to dig in and we scored a really good goal from Ben Mee.

"They were a good side, but we saw the game through well. We were really down to the end of our squad for that game."