MICHAEL Keane believes manager of the month Sean Dyche has made him a better defender, in just 18 months with Burnley.

The centre half was schooled at Manchester United. But it is only since making the break from Old Trafford that he feels he has really learned about his role in the team.

And he puts that education and improvement down to the Clarets boss.

“Since I’ve been here the gaffer’s improved me massively, as have the other players and coaches as well,” said Keane, who believes having a manager who was a defender during his playing career has helped his game.

“He talks to me a bit more than maybe he would people in other positions and gives me advice, but that’s a great thing for me and what I need and maybe why I’ve improved so much. I’m glad he did used to play centre half to be fair.

“I’ve heard he was a bit of a no-nonsense defender. He’s put that into me a bit.

“I think I’ve grown into it a lot more over the last few years. I actually really enjoy it now when teams are lumping balls into the box and you have to defend for your lives. We had to do that again against Fulham but I thought we defended really well for the last half an hour.

“It’s something I’ve improved on a lot and the manager has been brilliant with me.

“He’s always pulling me aside and sometimes taking me into the analysis room and showing me clips of what I can do better.

“Most of the time it’s off the ball things, your body shape, your heading technique - little things like that. I’ve learned a lot from him and I hope I can keep learning.

“Probably once a week we’ll split up into defenders, midfielders and strikers and do a bit of unit work. I think that helps with the shape and just the basics really, because if you get the foundations right you give yourself a great chance, and that’s shown in what we’ve been doing lately.”

“He’s always pulling me aside and sometimes taking me into the analysis room and showing me clips of what I can do better.

“Most of the time it’s off the ball things, your body shape, your heading technique - little things like that. I’ve learned a lot from him and I hope I can keep learning.

“Probably once a week we’ll split up into defenders, midfielders and strikers and do a bit of unit work. I think that helps with the shape and just the basics really, because if you get the foundations right you give yourself a great chance, and that’s shown in what we’ve been doing lately.”

But Keane feels his biggest benefit has been playing regularly.

“Playing a lot of games you’re obviously going to make a few mistakes here and there and as a young centre half I have done, but I’ve learned a lot more than maybe I would have if I was at United," said the former England Under-21 international.

“No disrespect to a club like Burnley but last year in the Premier League I had to do a lot more defending than I would have if I’d played at Manchester United as well.

“I think I’ve definitely become a much better player and I don’t regret coming here at all.

"It was obviously disappointing not to break through at United but I think it was the right to make a decision and it’s been a good one so far.

“I’ve played a lot of games, I’ve got a good chance of going back into the Premier League, and I’ve improved as a player, so you can’t really ask for much more."

With 10 games to go, leaders Burnley begin the final countdown at Huddersfield Town this afternoon. And, after opening up a four-point gap at the top of the Championship, Keane feels it is just a case of maintaining high standards.

“We just need to keep going, we’ve been working really hard and doing really well recently. We just can’t get carried away. Hopefully we’ll just keep winning games and get promoted," he said.

“It’s going to be really close to the end of the season I think. We’ve been on a brilliant run - credit to all the lads and the staff here we’ve not let ourselves go.

“We keep working really hard in training and hopefully we can keep it going until the end of the season."