Sean Dyche believes humour has been a useful distraction for Burnley in some situations where they have found themselves with their backs to the wall in the Premier League.

Dyche's offbeat exchange with reporters about lookalikes earlier this week was a topic that was revisited on a number of occasions as he previewed the visit of Brighton to Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon.

The Burnley manager reflected that there have been low moments since joining the club in October 2012 but revealed he and his players have been known to occasionally relieve the tension with light-hearted comments.

The quintet were all absent for the midweek defeat against Manchester City and could miss out once more against Brighton, who emulated Burnley in defeating Liverpool at Anfield to leapfrog the Clarets into 15th in the table.

"Brighton are a good outfit," Dyche added. "Liverpool are not quite on song but you're not bothered about that, you've still got to play well, which they did.

"I saw most of the game, they defended well and in numbers but still attacked well and found the balance. They'll be looking to do that again."