Burnley manager Sean Dyche gets selfie with ‘legend’ Timmy Mallett to cap win over West Ham

Mallett was at the game with his son Billy, who is trying to complete the feat of attending matches at 92 English league grounds

Sean Dyche poses with TV personality Timmy Mallett (Kelvin Stuttard/Burnley Express)

Sean Dyche celebrated Burnley’s win over West Ham in an unexpected way – by taking a selfie with 1980s children’s television presenter Timmy Mallett.

The Oxford United fan, best known for the television game Mallett’s Mallett and for having a number one single with Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polkadot Bikini in 1990, was among the spectators at Turf Moor on Sunday.

Mallett was at the game with his son Billy, who is trying to complete the feat of attending matches at 92 English league grounds. They had also attended Liverpool’s 5-1 victory over Arsenal at Anfield on Saturday.

The presenter and disc jockey turned up at Dyche’s press conference after Burnley’s 2-0 win, and proceeded to ask the manager if he thought Burnley should have scored more goals in the second half.

“It’s Timmy Mallett,” the Burnley manager said excitedly, before asking the presenter and disc jockey to pose for a photograph with him. “That caps off a great day. Very rarely do I get selfies but I might have one today. He is a legend.”

Responding to Mallett’s question about Burnley’s missed opportunities during the second half, Dyche said: “We could have had more. Early in the second half, we had three chances in five minutes. That’s my only bugbear.”

Dyche dropped Joe Hart for the game, restoring Tom Heaton to Burnley’s goal. “Joe’s done well for us. He’s a quality keeper and a quality professional, as a bloke as well. He was the first to jump up when Tom made the save right at the end.

“There’s a big respect for him around here, and a big decision coming – you’ve got three England goalkeepers, and all high quality.

“Tom showed that today. The thing I’m pleased with is Tom keeps his profession right, and that’s hard, when you’re out of the side and want to be playing. He’s been so professional. He works hard, stays on top of himself, and he gets his rewards.”

West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini rued the draining schedule his players have faced over the festive period.

“Normally I don’t like to give excuses. But it was very clear from the first minute, the physicality from the players was so different,” he said.

“We arrived in London at 2am and we played 48 hours after against a team that always works hard. They recovered better. They had more time to recover.”