Sean Dyche comes out and defends heavily criticised Tottenham player

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Burnley boss Sean Dyche has defended Tottenham Hotspur’s Erik Lamela in Lancashire Live.

Lamela lunged into a tackle on Dwight McNeil during Tottenham’s game against Burnley last night, and he was heavily criticised on Sky Sports.

Commentator Andy Hinchcliffe suggested that Lamela should have been sent off for the challenge, as covered by HITC.

However, Dyche felt that the Tottenham man didn’t do much wrong – and he certainly was not one screaming for a foul.

“It could have been punished but I would hope not,” Dyche said.

“It (the game) has diluted down to a new level of weakness to be honest so I don’t want to start taking moments that are not bad moments, a little bit loose maybe but not terrible moments.

“That used to be the norm, I am not saying I want it but my point is that I don’t think you can start over thinking all of these things.”

Lamela has always had an aggression about his game, and his tackle was certainly a firm one.

However, there was clearly no malicious intent and the fact that it went completely unpunished during the game, suggests that the officials didn’t feel it was reckless.

Tottenham actually beat Burnley 1-0 on Monday, with a header from Heung-Min Son proving to be the difference between the two sides.