Burnley boss Sean Dyche is relaxed about the Football Association charge hanging over Joey Barton after the possibility of a ban was worked into contract negotiations with the player.

The 34 year old midfielder's hopes of making an impact at Turf Moor received a boost on Thursday when the FA granted him more time to prepare his defence against the charge, which could carry a fine and/or suspension.

Referring to the FA charge, Dyche said: "He'll deal with that, it's a separate situation. Obviously we're well aware of it, but that's personal to him and the powers that be. It's not about us.

"We've come to a mutual agreement with him and his advisors how that would work if anything happens.

"It's something out of our domain. I'm sure he'll speak to me about it in due course but he actually doesn't need to. It was before he was part of our club again and before he was registered with us.

"It's for him and the powers that be to take that forward."

Dyche is known to value Barton's experience and off-field contribution but also made it clear that there were no promises about how much playing time the former Manchester City, Newcastle and QPR midfielder could expect.

"There's no guarantee on how much of a part he plays but he's in the pack," said Dyche.

"The expectation is just for him to come back in and be a valued part of the squad.

"He came back in because I felt he deserved the respect of coming back in and training with us. He's come back in and showed us he wants to be part of it again.

"We'll see. It's a different level of football, he's got to earn the right to get a game first. He'll be well aware of that.

"The team is going well enough on its own at the moment but we feel he can be an important part of the squad.

"We know we need a certain depth to the squad and we still haven't got the deepest squad by any means. You do need that depth and you need competition within that group."