Burnley midfielder Defour plays an hour on return from injury

The Belgian midfielder came through an hour as the Under 23s beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0 in the Professional Development League at Curzon Ashton.

Defour has been out since the end of January after undergoing knee surgery, with further complications in pre-season delaying his return.

However, he feels he is close to adding to Sean Dyche’s options, as Burnley look to climb off the foot of the Premier League table.

Defour said: “You want to help the lads, of course. It’s tough to see games and not picking up points.

“I’ve been in training for almost two weeks now and getting a game in is a good thing. I will keep on going now.

“I feel like I can play a part at some point. I think I need to work a bit more to go to a full 90 minutes, but I don’t think I’m too far off.

“It’s just good to be on the pitch, that’s the most important thing.”

He enjoyed the workout, and added: “In the first 10 minutes I had to get used to the rhythm of the game, because it’s been almost eight months without playing.

“But after that I got into the game and I think I played good for a first time.

“I’ve worked on my cardio during rehab. I had a couple of setbacks, knee and calf issues, but when we got it right it’s been good.

“I was also trying to guide the younger players and I think we played a really good game.”