Burnley are set to be without Scott Twine and Jay Rodriguez for Friday night’s clash with Watford.

The pair missed last weekend’s draw at home to Luton Town through injury.

Vincent Kompany has claimed he is not expecting either to be back in time for the trip to Vicarage Road.

Both being injured left the Clarets with Ashley Barnes as the only fit striker in the matchday squad for Saturday’s draw at Turf Moor.

Rodriguez is yet to feature in the Championship this season, but Twine did come off the bench in the opening fixture victory over Huddersfield Town to make his debut for the club.

Despite the 33-year old being set to return to training this week, it is not expected that he will be risked on Friday night, whereas Twine will definitely be out of action.

"We will see," said Kompany, via Lancashire Live.

"[Rodriguez] is nearly back in training but the weeks we have coming up, I won't rush people into the squad and I am extremely careful with that. 

“My priority is to have numbers for a big period of games.

"Twiney has had a bit of a setback and we have to manage it. 

“Unfortunately he will be missing for a little bit but hopefully not too long. He would have done something for us [against Luton].

"He has struggled a little bit since the beginning of pre-season and I can't tell you exactly how many games he will be out for but it is not a big one, it is just making sure he is 100 per cent ready before he comes in."

 

 

An early second half goal from Josh Brownhill secured a point for Kompany’s side on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors had taken an early lead when Dan Potts scored in the 5th minute, but the shares were ultimately shared in Burnley’s first home game of the new season.

Up next for the Clarets is that trip to face Watford on August 12.

The Verdict

Given Rodriguez’s injury record, it comes as no surprise that Burnley will take a cautious approach to his return to action.

The Twine injury has left the team in an uncomfortable position and has put all the onus on Barnes to carry things up front.

But at least Rodriguez is making a return to training this week, so hopefully he will be able to build his match fitness back to full strength as Twine continues his recovery.

Burnley’s other injury concerns are relatively manageable so these next few weeks will be about building the strike pairing back up to full fitness.