Sean Dyche has identified previous Barclays Premier League experience as the key attribute he desires in any potential Burnley buys this January.

The Clarets manager is ready to add to his squad in the new year as they bid to prove the naysayers wrong and avoid an immediate demotion back to the second tier.

It has been a case of so far, so good for last year's Sky Bet Championship runners-up, who lifted themselves out of the division's bottom three with victory over Southampton last weekend.

But ahead of a daunting nine-day period, which includes fixtures against Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City before the new year arrives, Dyche is mindful that his inexperienced group may need some know-how down the stretch.

England Under-21 internationals Nathaniel Chalobah and Michael Keane, neither of whom had played in the Premier League before this season, were Dyche's most recent recruits and he admits there will be a shift in his approach to next month's window.

"Our market last year was particularly different, it's slightly different now," said the ex-Watford boss.

"It's not that we're not looking at younger players – that's quite obvious with Nathaniel here and Keano – we still take value in young players. But it is also fair to say we are looking for players who've had a feel of the Premier League.

"We are not necessarily a young group, but we're quite an inexperienced group as regards regular Premier League football."

There was no summer splurge at Turf Moor, although Dyche did acquire some players who had vast experience at this level.

However, with Matt Taylor and Stephen Ward both out injured due to ankle problems, and 33-year-old Steven Reid very much on the periphery of the first-team picture, those players have not had a great impact.

Michael Duff, 36, is also sidelined so the starting line-up which Dyche will likely deploy at Spurs on Saturday will include just two players – Dean Marney and David Jones – who made more than 10 top-flight starts before this campaign.

"We've got a group who've maybe had a season in it, but it would be nice to have a few more who've been around it a long time," Dyche said.

"Matty's been in it for years but he's injured, Reidy's at the other end of his career and he knows what part he plays for us now. So there's a balance to how we're monitoring players now."

While Dyche trains his thoughts on possible incomings, he knows that the speculation regarding Clarets striker Danny Ings' future is unlikely to go away any time soon.

The 22-year-old is out of contract in the summer and this week both Newcastle and Sunderland were mooted as potential destinations.

Yet his manager remains unmoved by the transfer talk having heard it all before.

"We don't need to ignore it, we're just used to it," Dyche said.

"He's used to it, I'm used to it. It's not a new story – people were talking about Ingsy last year from the beginning of the season so we're used to it."