Burnley boss Sean Dyche hails Marcelo Bielsa's impact at Elland Road - Leeds United opposition angle

Bielsa has guided United to 10th in the top flight after 35 games, securing some impressive victories along the way, including a win over Manchester City with 10 men and another fine display in a 3-1 success over Tottenham Hotspur last week.

Leeds won 1-0 when the Clarets visited Elland Road at the end of December and Dyche has been hugely impressed by the success Bielsa has enjoyed since arriving in West Yorkshire.

“I think he has done an absolutely fantastic job,” he said.

“He quite clearly has a style that he stands by, he quite clearly has motivated the players both last season and this season to do the job and do it they have, that’s for sure.”

Dyche added: “There is never a question mark about the manager and never a question mark about managers in general actually.

“My respect level is off the scale for managers because I know how difficult the job is.”

Leeds’ trip to Turf Moor will likely be the last time the hosts will have to play on their home pitch behind closed doors.

From Monday, limited numbers of supporters will be allowed to attend sporting fixtures in England with Burnley welcoming Liverpool to Lancashire on Wednesday night.

And Dyche hopes the meeting with the Whites is the last time his side will play without their home fans present.

The Clarets’ last Turf Moor win came at the end of January and failure to beat Leeds would mean a club-record ninth consecutive top-flight home game without a win.

“The thing we’ve missed this year – they play a massive part at this club – is the fans,” he added.

“Aside from my first year here when I got a lot of stick, they’ve stood by me and they’ve stood by the team and the club and they’ve built a nice energy and a nice connection which has been very, very important.

“To miss that this year has been very difficult for them and very difficult for us.”

He added: “We’ve not got as many points as usual but the performances have still been pretty good. There have been a couple of blips of course and a few that have just been really tight margins.

“If we get fans back and home form improves it will be fair to say fans have an obvious effect on teams.”

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you'll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click HERE to subscribe.