Burnley manager Sean Dyche jokingly puts £900m price tag on James Tarkowski as Clarets prepare to take on Virgil van Dijk's Liverpool

• e-mail

Burnley will host the owners of the £75million centre-half on Monday on the back of a 10th clean sheet from an entire defence which cost less than £15m.

For manager Sean Dyche, himself a former stopper, it is not rocket science.

'We haven't got magic dust,' he said after his side were robbed of a deserved victory at a tired Huddersfield by a shocking non-penalty call from referee Paul Tierney.

Burnley manager Sean Dyche jokingly put a £900m valuation on defender James Tarkowski

Tarkowski had been in outstanding form this season as Burnley push for a top six spot

Tarkowski, a Manchester United fan, signs autographs at Old Trafford on Boxing Day

'We work on a simplistic, but detailed format - if that makes sense. We don't try and confuse the players, but there's a lot of detail that goes into the planning. That then gives them the framework to go and deliver and they have done that really well.'

They have indeed. One of those to profit from Dyche's mentoring has been James Tarkowski, a £5m pickup from Brentford. 

The Mancunian, a United fan, returns after a three-match ban which saw him miss out on a dream Boxing Day date at Old Trafford. 

He has performed well since the summer departure of Michael Keane to Everton and is attracting admiring glances from some of the country's elite clubs.

Given the world record price tag on Virgil van Dijk's head, how much would it take to prise the 25–year-old away from Turf Moor?

Dyche pictured during Burnley's goalless draw at Huddersfield Town on Saturday afternoon

'£900 million,' said Dyche with a smile, before delivering further evidence of his art for making things simple.

'It's no different to houses,' he explained. 'You've got your house and someone down the road sells theirs for £100,000 more than you thought yours was worth. 

'When you then put yours up, you don't put it on for £100,000 less, do you? It's just the business side of football.'

Dyche has no issues with Liverpool's record-breaking swoop. 'It's the market,' he added. 'Jose Mourinho is right, you either come out and pay it or you don't. 

'The idea of us all having a gauge like we did five or 10 years ago, when we all knew roughly where a player was, that's gone. It's just, do you want the player, do you want to pay what the other club want?'

Dyche confronts referee Paul Tierney about his decision not to award Burnley a penalty

Dyche's Clarets ended the year in seventh-spot and there was more evidence of their progress at the John Smith's Stadium, where they bullied their hosts.

Had it not been for Tierney's second-half error, when Town keeper Jonas Lossl took away Jeff Hendrick's trailing leg in the area, they would have picked up another three points.

Huddersfield manager David Wagner, who takes his 11th-placed side to Leicester City on Monday, reflected on 'a lucky point' and pondered January activity.

'We will have our eye on the market and if we can and if it makes sense, then we will try to do something,' he said. 'If not, then I am happy with my squad.'