Finances 'not an issue' at Burnley according to Blackpool boss Michael Appleton

The Clarets have splashed out some big fees this summer by Championship standards, paying £4m for Scott Twine, £3m a piece for Arijanet Muric, Josh Cullen and Manuel Benson and £2m for Luke McNally.

Going the other way, meanwhile, have been Nick Pope (£10m to Newcastle United), Maxwell Cornet (£17.5m to West Ham), Dwight McNeil (£20m to Everton) and Nathan Collins (£20.5m to Wolves).

It’s resulted in a summer of change for Blackpool’s opponents, with new boss Vincent Kompany overseeing an overhaul of his squad.

“There’s been a lot of change, there’s no doubt about it,” Appleton said ahead of today’s trip to Turf Moor.

“Having said that, and I won’t go on about it, but they’ve been able to do it in a slightly different way, because I don’t think finances are an issue – regardless of what you might read and what people might try and tell you and convince you.

“I don’t think finances are an issue at Burnley at this moment in time, which certainly makes things a little bit easier when you’re recruiting.

“I have to say though I’ve been impressed watching them. We played Swansea last Saturday who are a side that like to dominate the ball and the stats tell us Burnley do that even better, so they dominate the ball more, they pass the ball quicker and in those areas that’s something we have to be mindful of and respectful of.

“To dominate some of the teams they’ve played already, the likes of Watford and play as well as they’ve done, they 1) should clearly have more points than what they’ve got at this moment in time but 2) they’ve got a squad that are capable of playing that type of football and sustain that performance over a period of time.

“We know what we’re up against, we know what we’ve got a tough ask. But you can tell our players are really looking forward to it because they’re buoyant after our result in midweek.

“It’s a Lancashire derby and I’ve been involved in a few, so it’s a game I’m really looking forward to.”

While the Seasiders are going through their own change in style from Critchley’s out-of-possession approach to Appleton’s possession-based style, Burnley are also having to make their own alterations.

After 10 years of Sean Dyche, the Clarets are now looking to adopt a similar style to Kompany’s former side Manchester City.

“You’ve got to remember the success they had under Sean and the quality of players that club was able to bring in,” Appleton added.

“It was a style and a brand that certainly served them well for a long time and I was a big fan of how they went about it.

“Yes, there’s been change, but we won’t know until we’re 46 games in whether that’s the right thing to do or not.

“All I do know is that from what I’ve seen so far is that I’ve been impressed, I’ve liked what I’ve seen and I know we’re going to be up against it.

“But it’s a game we wish was today because we can’t wait to get going.”