George Boyd is Burnley's Running Man who took the path less travelled to the Premier League

They call George Boyd the Running Man in Burnley, but the midfielder and his team-mates are anything but running scared as they prepare to face Liverpool on Wednesday.

Thanks to the statistical analysis that now covers every sprint over every blade of Premier League grass, Burnley top one table at least in terms of miles covered by the team this season. The challenge now to climb the table that matters most by ensuring the hard work is rewarded with top flight survival.

Boyd, a £3m signing from Hull City last September, is the Burnley player who has clocked up more miles than anyone else at Turf Moor – he managed 13.8km (eight miles) against Newcastle last month – but the 29-year-old insists his numbers and those of his team-mates should be regarded as the norm, rather than an exception.

“I’ve been the same throughout my career, from Stevenage right through to here at Burnley,” Boyd said. “But everything is magnified in the Premier League.

“When you are playing in non-league or League Two, you don’t have those kind of stats available. That’s why it is getting the attention now. It’s just the way I have always played.

“But to be honest, I never come off the pitch totally knackered, even though the numbers are quite astonishing really.”

Nobody has surpassed Boyd’s miles per game record in the Premier League this season.

Yet the work ethic instilled by Dyche runs through a squad written off as relegation certainties at the start of the season following promotion from the Championship last year.

It is the lung-bursting approach which saw Burnley fight back from two goals down to earn a draw at Manchester City in December and also led to Manchester United being booed off the pitch at half-time during their eventual 3-1 victory over Dyche's team at Old Trafford.

And although an unexpected point at Chelsea was followed by a defeat at home to Swansea at the weekend, there is no sense of the Running Men being run into the ground so far.

“It’s better for us as a team to be playing as often as we do,” Boyd said. “We benefit from the intensity.

“Over Christmas, when there were four games in about ten days, our stats went up and our numbers at Newcastle were even better than they had been at City a couple of days earlier.

_{Boyd says the players are aware of their individual stats (PAUL COOPER)}

“Basically, we are a group of British players from working-class families and that definitely works in our favour.

“It gives you grit and there is a real working-class desire here, which is what you need.

“Burnley is a working-class town and the fans want to see grit and hard work because that is what they have themselves.

“As a group, we have all worked so hard to get here, so you won’t hear any of us moaning about the number of games we have to play.”

Boyd’s journey to the top would be unrecognisable to the Academy products currently striving to make their way in the game, however.

Rejected by Charlton as a youngster, Boyd left the family home in Kent at sixteen to start out in non-league with Stevenage, where he became a cult hero, earning the nickname ‘White Pele’ from the supporters due to his contribution.

To supplement his earnings, Boyd even worked in a sweet shop at Hitchin train station in order to afford his train fare back to Kent.

“I was sixteen at the time,” Boyd said. “I only did it for four hours a week -- it was £5 an hour and the train was £20 back to Kent -- but it was just one of those things you have to do if you want to make it.

“That kind of thing helps you grow up. It’s not something kids at the big clubs would ever imagine doing, but leaving home at sixteen was massive because I had had everything done for me at home by my mum and dad.

“But I wouldn’t ask for anything else, looking back.

“I was released by Charlton and then went down the lower leagues, but I would recommend it to anyone.

“I was playing men’s football rather than Academy games and, in all honesty, academy football won’t help anyone make a career.

“There is no tempo, the games are slow and it is no use to anybody. You’re better off going down to League One or League Two and playing football.”

_{Boyd gets away from Swansea's Neil Taylor at Turf Moor (REX FEATURES)}

As a result of his career path, Boyd’s success at Burnley has led to the midfielder insisting that this season has been the best of his career.

But despite the respect that he and Burnley have earned from the sceptics, he admits that performances must now be backed up by results.

“During the first ten games, we were probably a bit wary of the league,” Boyd said. “But as the season has gone on, we have realised we can compete and play at this level and the confidence is shining through.

“We lost 1-0 at home to Liverpool and, with the way we played, we would have been fuming with a draw because we battered them.

“We played so well in that game, but we then went to United and played better than anyone has done at Old Trafford this season because they were booed off at half-time.

“Going to Old Trafford and playing as we did gives us even more confidence, but we’re under pressure now because we need to start picking up points down at the bottom.

“We would rather play crap and get points than do well and end up with nothing, Points are vital now and we don’t care how we get them.”

Data courtesy of the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, Official Player Rating Index of the Premier League. All statistics correct as of March 2 2015