Football
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Sean Dyche: Danny Ings will not be leaving Burnley in January

Burnley boss Sean Dyche is relaxed about star striker Danny Ings' future and insists the England Under-21 international will be staying put in January.

Ings was the Championship player of the year last season and has followed up with some impressive displays in his first Premier League campaign. He has found the net four times for the Clarets and caught the eye with his clever hold-up play, alerting several top-flight rivals.

The 22-year-old is out of contract in the summer and with no agreement apparently imminent, Burnley are braced for approaches when the transfer window opens. But Dyche is convinced there is no chance of the club cashing in their prize asset.

"[I have] no concerns whatsoever. I've been asked that question for the last two years. The chairmen [Mike Garlick and John Banaszkiewicz] have come out and said he's going nowhere and I'm happy with that as a manager.

"We have open dialogue with him and his agent. It's just the reality of the situation. The club have made it quite clear how much they value the players we've got and we're in a good position cash-wise because we haven't spent a lot of money.

"If anything, we're thinking about adding to the squad.''

While Dyche's top priority remains hanging on to Ings and keeping the club safe from relegation, moves are also afoot to improve the infrastructure behind the scenes.

A planning application has been filed with Burnley Borough Council to expand and update the team's Gawthorpe training ground. If successful three new pitches will be built alongside new first-team and academy training centres and a new indoor training facility.

Chief executive Lee Hoos said: "Going forward this is an absolutely critical piece of work for the club. It's great to have a nice stadium, but for the players their place of work is the training ground so we need to give them the best opportunities for training and development and that includes enhancing the sports science provisions up there.

"The development of the 60m x 40m indoor facility will also help us get the Academy to Category Two, which again helps to take the club forward in attracting young players. When players go in every day to a facility that is purpose built and with good facilities, I think they feel good about their work.

"They know we can probably add something to their career because we can take care of them, then that in turn helps us to attract more players. So all in all this is a vital development that we need to pursue.''

Local residents who could be affected by the proposal have been contacted will have the chance to attend a planning meeting in the new year.

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