Sean Dyche feels Burnley will be able to play with more freedom as they prepare for a north London double-header against Tottenham and Arsenal.
The Clarets go into the fixtures buoyed by last weekend’s victory over Brighton, which ended a run of eight Premier League matches without a win and lifted them out of the bottom three.
Dyche said ahead of Saturday’s trip to Wembley: “I think the main thing is it just settles the thoughts down outside of the group. It’s hard when you’re on a tough run.
“We get a win and it just gives them a reminder of that winning feeling.
“We do go into two tough games now of course. But there’s that bit more freedom to go and play at those sort of places. The expectation changes, especially from the outside.
“We’ve got to find ways of winning, we’ve always had to do that. We have to continue with the right mentality, the physicality stronger again – I think that’s coming back to where we want to be – and the tempo of the side and the energy.
“Doing the right thing in both boxes is the balance we haven’t found as freely this season but there’s signs of it coming back.
“Sometimes you’ve got to get back to the basic principles of what you stand for and we’re kind of getting back there, and that gives you a foothold in a game.
“Once you get that then you’re looking for players to have that bit of freedom and go and show what they can do and express themselves. That’s when a good solid performance turns into a very good performance, and that’s what we hope to find.”
Burnley have faced four of the top six so far this season and are yet to pick up a point, scoring one goal and conceding 14.
Their performance against Liverpool last week was encouraging, though, with the Clarets taking the lead before eventually losing 3-1.
Spurs go into the clash fresh from drawing with Barcelona in Spain to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League and are already 24 points ahead of Burnley.
“There is a most evident gap for the first time this season, with the recognised top six,” said Dyche, whose side picked up a point at Wembley last season.
“Tottenham are having a fine start to the season, they had a great result the other night.
“I really like the way they go about their business, the manager plays direct football but in a passing style.
“They’re effective within that, the tempo of how they play. I like the fact I don’t think they keep the ball for the sake of it.”
Key to Burnley’s chances will be trying to stop Harry Kane, with his England team-mate James Tarkowski leading the efforts.
Tarkowski said: “He’s regarded as one of the best strikers in the world right now and you can see why with the amount of goals he’s scored so as a defender you’ve got to be on your job and restrict them to as little as possible.
“It’s obviously going to be difficult because they’ve got some great players but that’s part and parcel of being a defender in the Premier League.
“They’re off the back of a good result away to Barcelona so it’s a tough test for us but we’re ready now, and we’ve moved forward from the negativity and the way we started the season.”
Midfielder Steven Defour (calf) and winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson (hamstring) are both very doubtful.
