Burnley boss feared for his players due to fan trouble at Blackburn Rovers

Burnley boss Sead Dyche has admitted that he was concerned over his player’s safety after two Blackburn Rovers’ fans confronted them while celebrating the opening goal of the Carabao Cup game last night.


Burnley clinched a 2-0 victory over the Rovers in the Lancashire derby, but the game was marred by incidents from both set of supporters.

Dyche had watched the incident unveil in front of him as two fans charged towards his players following the first goal. Clarets skipper James Tarkowski was pushed in the chest by one supporter whilst the other appeared to grab Ashley Westwood by the throat before a melee broke up from both set of supporters.

Speaking after the world, Dyche insisted that the stewardship was amateurish whilst questioning how the fans were allowed to reach his players without any intervention, he said: “There used to be a time, when I was playing, that if people got onto a football pitch it was a bit of a joke, a little bit silly. But there are now different things going on in the world, when people get onto a football pitch they need to be stopped.

The challenge is for the stewards – who do a terrific job all over the country – to deal with it quickly. “It got to the point where we were going to go onto the pitch – not to do anything ridiculous but to say, we can’t have that.”

While the two supporters were apprehended and arrested due to his unfruitful behaviour, the FA Cup are expected to look into referee Simon Hooper’s report before taking any action on the Rovers. Burnley are also at risk of facing a fine after a supporter from their end let off flares which got a nine-year-old boy injured with minor burns. Burnley’s record signing Chris Wood was introduced as a late substitute during the game, and he could have extended the Clarets’ lead, had it not been for two excellent stops from Rovers goalkeeper David Raya.