Former Watford manager Sean Dyche says he has fond memories of his time at the club, but that he is looking forward rather than back.

The current Burnley manager spent just one season as manager at Vicarage Road, but prior to being sacked by the Pozzos in the summer of 2012, had an affiliation with the Hornets which went back eight years across two spells.

Initially signed as a player by Ray Lewington in 2002, Dyche left Vicarage Road in 2005 to join Northampton Town, but in 2007 returned following his retirement to take up a role within the club's academy.

The 42 year-old rapidly rose through the club's coaching set-up and eventually became manager in the summer of 2011 when Malky Mackay - whom he had previously assisted - left to take the vacant manager's post at Cardiff City.

In his only season at the helm at Vicarage Road, Dyche guided the Hornets to a very respectable 11th place finish. That despite losing Danny Graham and Will Buckley before a ball had even been kicked and Marvin Sordell in the January transfer window.

Asked to reflect on his time at Watford, Dyche said: "I have fond memories. I had a good time there.

"I was player, captain, youth coach, reserve team/development coach, assistant manager and manager so of course I had a real connection with the club."

However, with Burnley currently nine points clear in the automatic promotion positions, Dyche will not let sentimentality get in the way of his second return to WD18.

"I always compartmentalise my career into different stages. I enjoyed my time, move forward - it’s just the way I am," explained the Kettering-born boss.

Watford have changed both on and off the field since Dyche was replaced by Gianfranco Zola in the summer of 2012, but the former centre-half says that is fast becoming the rule rather than the exception.

"The model’s radically changed since I was there, the business model of the club and use of the youth system has changed. It’s just the way it is.

"I’ve said it many times, businesses across the world change the format, change the processes, change the protocols, change the way that they work," mused Dyche.

"They’ve made that decision now and they work in a completely different manner than when I was there."