Barton given FA charge extension

Barton is in contention to start Saturday's FA Cup third round tie at Sunderland, having rejoined the Clarets earlier this week.

And he was due to respond by 6 p.m. today to an FA misconduct charge for alleged betting offences.

However, he now has until the same time on January 31 to do so, leaving him free to focus on his football for the intervening period.

Boss Sean Dyche is happy to leave the business to Barton and the FA: “He'll deal with that, it's a separate situation.

“Obviously we're well aware of it, but that's personal to him and the powers that be. It's not about us.

“We've come to a mutual agreement with him and his advisors how that would work if anything happens.

“It's something out of our domain. I'm sure he'll speak to me about it in due course but he doesn't need to, it's before he was part of our club again and before he was registered with us.

“It's for him and the powers that be to take that forward.”

In the meantime, Dyche is happy to have last season's official player of the year back at the club following an ill-fated stint at Rangers: "He came back in because I felt he deserved the respect of coming back in and training with us.

“He's come back in and showed us he wants to be part of it again. There's no guarantee on how much of a part he plays but he's in the pack.”

While he may feature at the Stadium of Light, Barton has a battle on to earn a place in the side in the Premier League: “It's a different level of football, he’s got to earn the right to get a game first.

“He'll be well aware of that. The team is going well enough on its own at the moment but we feel he can be an important part of the squad.

“We know we need a certain depth to the squad and we still haven't got the deepest squad by any means. Certainly not in the Premier League but you do need that depth and you need competition within that group.”