Burnley's Sean Dyche hails returning Paul Robinson after Man City defeat

Burnley manager Sean Dyche hailed goalkeeper Paul Robinson as "different class" after he made an impressive return to action in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.

The former England international, 37, was thrown into the starting line-up after Tom Heaton was ruled out with a calf injury.

It was Robinson's first Premier League appearance since May 2012 and his first senior game for more than two years.

However, he did not show any rustiness and made a couple of brilliant saves in the first half to deny Sergio Aguero, who eventually scored both goals for the visitors.

"He's different class," said Clarets boss Dyche. "I see him in training every day. He's as lean and fit as he's ever been, he's mentally clear on what he needs to do and there's a calmness to him.

"His save in the first half is top drawer. Forget about age. It wasn't a major decision for me."

Both Aguero's goals resulted from Burnley's failure to clear the ball from their own box, with the second coming after Ben Mee and Stephen Ward tackled each other.

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But Dyche was happy with the performance and was particularly pleased to see a positive reaction after Monday's 4-0 thrashing at West Brom.

He said: "I'm disappointed in the goals from our point of view. But it can happen. They're doing what they're meant to do, putting their bodies on the line and getting blocks in.

"It's only the final moment where two of them clash. They're trying to do the right thing so I'm not going to hammer them for that.

"The first one was a poor goal. Two blips in a really good game. I thought the players delivered what I wanted them to deliver exceptionally well.

"We want to do the nuts and bolts and put teams out of kilter, and I thought we did that. And we created chances as well. A massively different performance from Monday night and of course we've got to take that on the road."