RALPH Hasenhuttl believes Burnley are a “little bit harder” to prepare for after the Clarets sacked long-serving manager Sean Dyche.

Despite the fact Burnley have been stuck in the relegation zone for the majority of the season, there was huge shock that boss Dyche, who had twice taken the Clarets to the Premier League in his ten-year stint in charge, was sacked prior to Burnley’s visit to West Ham.

A caretaker management team made up of youth coach Michael Jackson and first-team captain Ben Mee steered the Clarets to a 1-1 draw away at the London Stadium.

Reflecting on preparations for Burnley, Hasenhuttl said: “Burnley have a different way of playing football, they are a different opponent, a little bit harder at the moment for preparing, because of the new situation there.

“But we know the team, we know the players, some smaller changes they have made in the last game against West Ham.

“You can see the differences.

“When a manager is there for such a long time, you normally have a team that is absolutely used to what they have done all the time, very clear philosophy.

“When somebody like him is gone, it is normal that somethings have broken up a little bit and you do things a little bit different.

“You could see they played a little bit more football, and tried to use some spaces a little bit more.

“Full-backs a little bit more offensive in some moments.

“A few smaller margins they have changed, but the players are still the same, and also the behaviours, that you could feel are still the same.

“But in some moments, they tried to change something, so we will see what happens.”

Hasenhuttl went on to issue an injury update, revealing that there were currently no new concerns.

"So far, no big issues injuries-wise, at the moment it gives us a lot of options for the team selection, which is not always easy. It is better at this part that we can change a few things, we will see what we do.

“You have to take care of them and find hopefully a good squad that is competitive.”