The Lancashire Telegraph understands that Burnley striker Ashley Barnes could soon be involved in a behind-closed-doors game as he steps up his comeback from injury.
The 26-year-old hasn’t featured for the first-team since suffering his knee injury in their final game of last season’s Premier League against Aston Villa.
The fans’ favourite has been making rapid progress in his rehabilitation and he is now believed to be ready to make a return with the development squad, or even in a behind-closed-doors friendly later today. There were fears he could miss the whole of this season, but Sean Dyche could have him available for selection before the end of the season.
Dyche says that he will not rush back the striker but accepts that if he is ready, he won’t hesitate to throw him back into the fold,
“Barnesy is back with us and we’ll be looking to edge him towards his first game, probably a segment of a development game.
“They have a period when they come in a bit more controlled, now he’s just training, as you would so that’s really good.
“We give him a period of that to make sure he’s ready to be with us, before we worry about a game, especially after so long out.
“But he’s making good strides.”
Barnes isn’t the only Burnley man to suffer from a cruciate ligament injury in Dyche’s squad in recent times. Sam Vokes, Dean Marney, Kevin Long and Lukas Jutkiewicz all went down with the same problem. The final name mentioned is still yet to return, but the others have made comebacks, which Dyche believes can serve as inspiration to Barnes.
