SEAN Dyche says Burnley has to 'safeguard' its future by not allowing key players to run down their contracts.

The Clarets boss does not want to see a repeat of the situation where he was left without key personnel following Project Restart with Jeff Hendrick, Aaron Lennon and Joe Hart all allowed to walk away from Turf Moor for free.

Burnley were left short of numbers when the season resumed on June 22 with Phil Bardsley also missing the first two games due to his contract situation - although the full back did sign a new deal and subsequently played in the last seven games of the campaign.

"We have to make sure we're safeguarding in house, as well as looking outside of what we do, and that has to be looked at, quite obviously, and we are doing," said Dyche.

"In house is important as well, because we think we've got some very good players here, and I think it works on two levels."

Hendrick did not feature in the last nine games of the 2019/20 season and has since joined Newcastle United while Lennon joined Turkish side Kayserispor and Hart signed a two-year deal with Spurs.

Dyche wants to make sure players he want to keep are tied up long before the season comes to end - something that benefits both the club and the individual.

"It works in the sense of rewarding them for what they've done, and continue to do, and also safeguarding the club for the football business, operating in the Premier League, and the business side, where we should remain strong," added Dyche.

"The best controllable thing is internally, of course."