Burnley winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson believes his side would do well in the Premier League next season if they seal their promotion at the end of this term, speaking to The Sun.
The Icelander has been one of several key players to have contributed to the Clarets' cause this term, with his team showing remarkable consistency throughout this campaign despite the fact they rebuilt part of their squad last summer.
Losing several key first-teamers during the previous summer window including Nick Pope, James Tarkowski and Max Cornet, they were able to use the funds generated by Pope, Cornet, Nathan Collins and Dwight McNeil's sales to bring quite a few players in.
Currently sitting at the top of the Championship table and 19 points clear of third place, promotion now looks inevitable for a side that have been received huge praise for their progress this term following the departure of Sean Dyche.
Vincent Kompany has played a big part in their success - and will be hoping to win promotion during his first managerial season in England, previously playing for Manchester City but not taking up a head coach role in the country until he joined from Anderlecht in the summer.
With the ingredients they have in their squad, Gudmundsson is confident that his team could be a success at the top level again.
He said: "This team is improving every day. But we know if we want to get into the Premier League and stay there we’ve got to keep improving as there’s a big gap in quality between there and the Championship.
"But I wouldn’t give it a second thought — we’re going to do well in the Premier League."
The Verdict:
The ingredients are there for the Clarets to thrive in the top flight but they will need to continue evolving and developing if they want to take the big step up again.
Nottingham Forest's spending this season just goes to reinforce the amount of money it may take for the Clarets to compete, though they do already have players who can contribute.
Josh Brownhill has proved himself at the top level before, Connor Roberts could potentially take the step up and Jay Rodriguez has performed in the English top tier regularly in the past.
There are also newer faces who could be useful, with Anass Zaroury and Manuel Benson proving their worth this term and Jordan Beyer likely to be an important player if the Clarets trigger the permanent option in his contract.
They should also look to bring some of their other loanees back and they would have the funds to spend a decent amount, with Ian Maatsen and Nathan Tella two players that Kompany may want to keep hold of beyond the end of this term.