Burnley striker Ashley Barnes is set for a spell on the sidelines after he underwent a hernia operation on Friday, the club confirmed.
Barnes last weekend’s defeat to Chelsea as well and manager Sean Dyche expressed his disappointment at the attacker’s absence as his side host Leicester City on Sunday.
“Hopefully he will have a smooth recovery. You don’t like losing good players but, equally, it allows other players to come in and perform and that’s what we’ll be looking for them to do.”
Sean Dyche on Ashley Barnes’ absence
Burnley boss Dyche can call upon Jay Rodriguez to fill Barnes’ boots as he returned to training following an illness which kept him out against Chelsea.
“Jay is feeling way, way better. He’d had a real big bout of illness and had lost some weight but he’s putting that back on and has been training all week and he’s feeling pretty good, so that’s good.”
Dyche on Jay Rodriguez’s return
Burnley top scorer Chris Wood is also available for selection having recovered from a broken nose that he suffered at Stamford Bridge.
The Clarets have lost four matches in a row in the Premier League and Dyche will be hoping his side can arrest this slide which has seen them drop down to 15th place, just three points above the relegation zone.
Winger Robbie Brady is also in contention to face the Foxes after he missed last weekend’s clash due to a combination of a calf problem and an illness.
Key man Johann Berg Gudmundsson returned to light training after spending a fortnight out due to a hamstring injury picked up in the FA Cup third round match against Peterborough United.
Leicester won the reverse fixture 2-1 at the King Power stadium back in October at the start of their eight match winning streak.
The Foxes dropped one place to third after losing 2-1 at home to Southampton last time out.
