Instant return top priority as Laws looks to keep best

The Clarets' relegation after only one season in the top flight was sealed a fortnight ago but they signed off in some style by coming from two down to beat Tottenham 4-2 on Sunday.

Unlike Portsmouth and Hull, the other two clubs in the bottom three, Burnley are free of debt and Laws is optimistic they can bounce straight back – provided they can hang on to their assets.

He said: "We want to keep our best players. But football's football, and you know there's going to be outgoings as well as incomings. There's a lot of players who are out of contract and we'll be talking to them over the next few days.

"They've swum the channel to get to the Premier League and we're going to have to do it all over again. We'll do everything possible to get back into the Premier League.

"We've got goals in us, we've got good quality players. When we're creative, we can hurt any team, and it's about keeping the nucleus of that team together.

"We've had a great taste of the Premier League. It's the best league in the world and everybody wants to be part of it."

Laws has remained unpopular with a large section of the Burnley support since replacing Owen Coyle in January and the fans again made their feelings known when Tottenham's Gareth Bale netted inside three minutes.

But chairman Barry Kilby has backed Laws and the former Sheffield Wednesday boss remains defiant.

"Supporters generally let you know if you're not winning games and if your performances are not quite up to scratch," he added. "They were on our back, and particularly mine maybe, because we've gone down and the performance didn't bode well. Yet the second half showed the character and that the players are right behind the management and everybody at the football club."

Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt admits he does not know which of his team-mates will be around at the start of next season.

Both captain Steven Gerrard and striker Fernando Torres have been linked with moves to other clubs this summer.

A dismal campaign, finishing seventh in the Barclays Premier League after early exits from the Champions League and FA Cup, has been compounded by ongoing financial difficulties.

"We are looking for new owners and you don't know which players are going to stay or go," said Kuyt.

Martin O'Neill believes Aston Villa will have to improve next season "even just to stand still".

Villa lost their final game of the campaign at home to Blackburn on Sunday but finished sixth in the Premier League for the third consecutive year.

But the 58-year-old admits his current squad needs strengthening if this season's achievements are to be matched.

"We would have to try and improve the team – I think even just to stand still, we would have to improve the team," O'Neill said. "If you start to think everything is absolutely perfect, it's not."