TOM Heaton believes the Clarets have a squad packed full of leaders after hailing the strength in depth at Turf Moor.

While the 31-year-old is club captain the skipper revealed he is not the only vocal presence in the dressing room.

A busy summer at Burnley ended with Nakhi Wells becoming the seventh new addition to the squad when he joined from Huddersfield on deadline day, while the likes of Jon Walters, Phil Bardsley and Jack Cork have added valuable top flight experience.

The Clarets lost a leader in Joey Barton, released in the summer following his 18-month ban for breaching Football Association betting rules, they have added many more and Heaton insists Sean Dyche’s squad has plenty of leadership.

“That’s what you want,” Heaton said. “Joey going was a good voice so bringing Jon in, a really experienced pro, Bardo as well is another big voice and Corky has a lot of experience in the Premier League, he’s a different type of character, but he can offer something.

“There’s been some real good additions in terms of Premier League quality and experience.”

While there is plenty of leadership around Turf Moor and the Barnfield Training Centre, Heaton said all the dressing room talk remains constructive.

“It was good last year, we’re not shy of voices,” he said. “We don’t like saying stuff for no reason, that doesn’t go down too well, but in terms of voicing things that are important at the right time, we had a lot of that and I think they’ll (the new signings) add to that this season, just because of the knowledge and the experience they’ve got.

“You don’t want it falling on one person’s shoulders, that’s never been the case here, we’ve got different leaders in different ways all across the squad.”

Burnley may have lost George Boyd, Michael Keane and Andre Gray this summer, but Heaton is happy with the squad in place, with competition for places in almost every department now.

It’s a far cry from the squad in place when he first arrived in May 2013 and the former Manchester United youngster believes it’s getting better every season.

“It does and the strength in depth is getting stronger year-on-year,” he added. “Even now in pre-season you can see there’s a lot vying for shirts and that can only bring the best out of people.

“In terms of what we’ve got now it’s probably the strongest we’ve had and I think it needs to be because of the demands of the division and the fact everyone is moving forward.”