Dyche unfazed by fitness issues ahead of first leg

Burnley manager Sean Dyche is confident he will have enough fit players available for the Europa League with Aberdeen tomorrow.

Forwards Chris Wood (hip) and Ashley Barnes (blisters) have a chance of making the Pittodrie clash, as could Robbie Brady after returning from a long-term knee injury. Belgian midfielder Steven Defour is expected to miss out with a calf injury but Nick Pope, who went to the World Cup with England, has returned to training this week.

The Clarets boss is happy with the options he has available to him for the second qualifying round tie as he continues to work on adding to his squad.

Dyche said: “We’ve got no choice, that’s the job. We’ve got to be careful, it’s pre-season and you can’t put everything on the first game.

“We need to make sure we’ve got players who are not just fit for this, but fit for the rest of the season. We’re working in the market, but it’s difficult to get players in.”

Burnley completed their preparations with a 3-2 win over Preston on Monday night. Dyche fielded what could be his starting 11 for the Dons game at Deepdale, but had withdrawn all of them by 55 minutes.

Dyche added: “We were hoping to get more first team players out there but we have got to be careful – three weeks yesterday is our first Premier League game, but Aberdeen is the most important thing coming up.”