Paul Clement aims to make old rival Sean Dyche feel the pain when Swansea City host Burnley at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.
The two friends have climbed the managerial ladder together in recent years, dating back to when they were both in charge of youth sides.
Now, they meet as Premier League opponents with Clement seeking more points to steer the Swans away from the relegation zone and Dyche still looking for Burnley’s first away win of the season.
Burnley have not won away in the Premier League since a 1-0 victory at Aston Villa in May 2015. But their outstanding home form has seen them surge to 11th this term.
Clement said: ‘We are the same age – but he looks older than me. He sounds like he needs a throat sweet when he speaks, but that is just the way he has always sounded.
“I have known Sean a fair time now as we came up against each other in Chelsea-Watford under-18 games.
“I played him twice last year in the Championship as well. We drew the home game and lost away in one of my last games.
“He has done a fantastic job at Burnley to take them into the Premier League, and then to rebuild them and get promoted again after they went down.”
Dyche’s Burnley won 4-1 at Turf Moor against Clement’s Derby County last season, and that was the beginning of the end of Clement’s eight-month reign as he was sacked two games later.
Now, Burnley are five places and seven points better off than a Swansea side, who have revived dramatically since Clement was appointed at the start of January.
The Clarets have 31 points in what has been a very creditable campaign, but only two of those have come away from home in draws at Manchester United and Hull.
‘It is difficult to say what the reasons are behind the difference in their home and away form,’ Clement said.
“They’ve made their home ground a very difficult place to go to and have got an excellent home record.
“Swansea won there on the opening day, thanks to Leroy Fer’s later winner, and that looks a fantastic away win now.
“But it is down to them to figure it out why they’ve found it difficult to pick up points away from home.
“Our job is to back up what we have done recently against Southampton and Leicester with another good home performance.”
Four wins from Clement’s seven games have taken Swansea two points above the relegation zone.
Most pundits have suggested the bottom seven are battling to avoid the drop, but the Swansea head coach suggests the likes of Burnley just above that group can not rest easy just yet.
“They (Burnley) are not in that fight at the moment, but with 12 games to go there are a lot of points to play for,” Clement said.
“They’ll be eager to get some points, whether that will be through draws away from home or home wins.
“We just have to be very focused and the players showed that against Leicester in a high-pressure game the last time we played at home.
“But we’ve just come back on the back of a loss at Chelsea and we need to put that right against Burnley.”
