Burnley and Huddersfield in stalemate as Sean Dyche rages against diving

Sean Dyche called for a review of diving protocols after Huddersfield’s Rajiv van La Parra took what the Burnley manager called an “unacceptable” tumble in pursuit of a penalty.

Both sides walked away with a point after gritting their teeth for a goalless draw at Turf Moor but the Terriers might have won it had the referee, Chris Kavanagh, been taken in when Van La Parra hit the turf after instigating contact with Matt Lowton.

David Wagner, the Huddersfield manager, accepted the Dutchman was deserving of both his booking and a fine, but Dyche came in with a full-blooded tirade. “It would have been an absolute farce,” said the Burnley manager about the prospect of a spot-kick. “It’s unacceptable in my book. I can’t abide it. I feel for the referee and I thought he was excellent in the moment. But he should be protected from that. “If it is a penalty they score, we lose and then he gets banned. How does that work?

“I’ve been harping on about this for three years and no one wants to listen. It’s for the good of the game … I travel across the country with my kid playing football and I’m watching 14-year-olds diving all over the place. Where do they get it from? They copy players.

“It’s got to be clamped down on. Maybe the video thing [video assistant referee] will give the refs a chance to look at it. But it’s got to go.”

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Dyche suggested he would have harsh words with any Burnley player who went to ground as easily as Van La Parra, suggesting they would be invited to the manager’s office for a dressing down, and Wagner said his player had already pleaded guilty.

“I was too far away and Sean was even further away than I was. I haven’t seen it again but I have spoken with Van La Parra and it was a dive,” said the German.

“It was nothing we like to see. He gets booked, he gets a fine and we go on.”

Wagner was otherwise content to rack up a ninth point of the campaign and a fourth clean sheet – both numbers few would have backed the Terriers to reach after just six matches in the top flight. The centre-half Christopher Schindler’s shackling of Burnley’s £15m striker Chris Wood was the highlight of an otherwise dreary game. Schindler has been a staple of the Huddersfield defence that has conceded just three goals.

“It was a deserved point in a tight and even game, both sides are very difficult to break down,” Wagner said.

“Everybody worked hard and I’m pleased with the clean sheet, of course, everybody feels responsibility for the defence in our team. Every player on the grass – defence, offence, midfielder – feels responsibility for the hard yards.”