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Sean Dyche insists FA Cup run "means nothing" unless it is won

The Clarets last reached the quarter-finals in 2003.

Sean Dyche insisted he would take no satisfaction from Burnley reaching the latter stages of the FA Cup unless they went all the way, as he said: "If you get knocked out, it means nothing."

It has been 18 years since the Clarets reached the quarter-finals of the competition, their hopes on that occasion ended by Watford, who claimed a 2-0 win at Vicarage Road with Dyche an unused substitute for the Hornets.

Dyche went close to a Wembley appearance in 1997 as his penalty put Chesterfield 2-0 up against Middlesbrough, who battled back to secure a 3-3 draw after extra time before the Teessiders prevailed 3-0 in the semi-final replay.

Those memories, as well as a conversation he once had with Gary Lineker, an FA Cup winner with Tottenham in 1991, have convinced Dyche not to place too much emphasis on a deep run in the competition.

"No-one really bothers with FA Cup quarter-finals, not even semi-finals," Dyche said ahead of Burnley's fifth-round fixture against Bournemouth on Tuesday evening.

"Gary Lineker once said to me, 'Sean, no-one remembers beaten semi-finalists'. But then we had our semi-final with Chesterfield and it went to extra time and he said, 'Actually, they will remember that one!'

"But his point is right. You want to win it. It's irrelevant going near. That's just my mindset. If you're on a journey to try and win the FA Cup, then you've got to win it.

"If you get knocked out, it means nothing. You can argue a semi-final means something, but you are not remembered for getting to a quarter-final."

Dyche has unashamedly prioritised retaining Burnley's place in the Premier League ahead of anything else and the club are yet to reach the last eight in either of the domestic cups since he took the reins in October 2012.

An opportunity to do so passed them by four years ago when Lincoln became the first non-league team to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals with a famous 1-0 win at Turf Moor.

However, Dyche is adamant there are no scars from that day.

"Lincoln on the day did everything you would want to try and do, they had one shot on target, scored a goal," Dyche added.

"I know it makes a story and people used words like 'embarrassment' and I said absolutely not. That belittles the opposition when your start talking about embarrassment, so no embarrassment at all.

"They deserved to win on the day, end of story.

"I have no baggage from that, none at all. That's football and I have been on the other side of that with small clubs who have beaten big clubs. So there is no ill-feeling over that one."

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Burnley manager Sean Dyche pictured on January 24, 2021
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