Kilby confident Coyle will stay

Burnley chairman Barry Kilby will soon open talks with Owen Coyle on a contract extension and is confident his manager will not be lured to Celtic Park after the departure of Gordon Strachan. The former St Johnstone boss has been linked with the Scottish giants after guiding the Clarets into the Barclays Premier League but has already distanced himself from the reports.

Kilby claims the speculation does not concern him.

"As far as I am concerned, Owen is contracted to us," he told Sky Sports News today. "He has another two years to run and we are going to talk about an extension to that.

"I think Burnley will want to stay with Owen Coyle and Owen Coyle will want to stay with Burnley and pit his wits against the best of the Premier League.

"I'm not that concerned, it has not been on the agenda. Owen is our manager and that is the end of it as far as I am concerned."

Burnley clinched their return to the top flight after a 33-year absence with victory over Sheffield United in the play-off final.

The club have immediately been installed as favourites for relegation but Kilby is confident they can hold their own.

"We've been that all season, the underdogs,” he added. "I think we can get a formula together and we will compete as hard as we can.

"We will be sitting down and getting our plans together, looking at clubs like Stoke and Hull to see how they've performed.

"I think we'll give a good account of ourselves."

As well as the excitement of playing in the Premier League, Burnley can now also look forward to renewing their rivalry with neighbours Blackburn.

Kilby said: "That's a massive game for Burnley fans. Blackburn is just eight miles down the road.

"We have had to watch them for many years in the Premier League so to come back and play Rovers on equal terms is very high on Burnley's list and on the fans' minds."

Around 7,000 fans will also get to watch next season's adventure free after Kilby pledged not to charge certain season-ticket holders to renew if they won at Wembley.

That promise will cost the club €2.3million in lost revenue but Kilby does not mind.

"I've no regrets on that," Kilby said. "It's a reward for all our fans and actually, because of the new monies in the Premier League, it's not that big a percentage of our net revenues."