Sean Dyche`s injury woes continued following news that on-loan defender, Michael Keane had picked up a hamstring injury whilst on International duty last week.
Keane was substituted at half time with a suspected hamstring injury as England beat Croatia 2-1 in the first leg of their UEFA Under 21 Championship play-off.
The on-loan Manchester United defender started at right back for Gareth Southgate`s England under 21 side at Molineux but had to be replaced at half-time by Spurs defender Eric Dier.
His injury will now be assessed ahead of Tuesday`s second leg in Croatia.
The news was made even more annoying considering our backlog of injuries at the moment. Two injuries actually also spoilt the chances of two other players being considered by Gareth Southgate for the England Under 21 squad this time round. Danny Ings (hamstring) and on-loan Chelsea midfielder, Nathaniel Chalobah (windpipe) were both sidelined. As far as the Clarets are concerned though, it is hoped that both could be back in contention for our next game on Saturday as home to West Ham. Our central midfield pairing Dean Marney and David Jones are also thought to be close to a return and could feature against the Hammers. News is awaited too on Kieran Trippier who was stretchered off in the game at Leicester before the international break but it is thought that the right ankle injury was not as serious as it first looked.
Anyway let`s go back to the internationals and report on other Clarets on duty for their country. Second-string keeper Matt Gilks was called up by Scotland for their European Championship qualifiers against Georgia and Poland. The 32-year-old replaced Allan McGregor who withdrew from the squad with a shoulder injury which was good news for the Blackpool stopper considering he had recently been replaced in the Scotland squad by Craig Gordon. Scotland edged out Georgia 1:0 in their international Euro qualifier this week at Ibrox but Gilks had to be content being an unused sub on the bench. Gilks will have to dislodge David Marshall should he wish to see some action in Scotland`s next qualifier against Poland away this Tuesday night.
Another Claret on international duty this week was new boy, Stephen Ward The Republic of Ireland international was part of the squad that thumped Gibraltar 7-0 in midweek in their Euro 2016 qualifier in Dublin although he was replaced in the 70th minute and was unable to be one of the players on the score sheet despite the tonking of the minnows.
Finally young goalkeeper Conor Mitchell has also been called up to represent Northern Ireland U19s in a UEFA U19 mini-tournament involving Czech Replublic, Russia and the Faroe Islands.
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