Burnley ask for dispensation to register a keeper after Pope undergoes surgery

Burnley have asked UEFA for special dispensation to bring a goalkeeper in ahead of tomorrow night's Europa League second qualifying round second leg against Aberdeen.
Nick PopeNick Pope
Nick Pope

It is unclear whether that will be to register Adam Legzdins, who wasn’t selected in the initial 25-man squad, or bring in a player on loan, with Southampton’s Fraser Forster linked with a switch.

But without Nick Pope, who has undergone surgery on a dislocated shoulder, and with Tom Heaton not expected to be fit with a calf problem, all of a sudden, Sean Dyche’s only senior keeper is Anders Lindegaard.

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The Dane came on for Pope at Aberdeen in last Thursday’s first leg, and Dyche said on Pope: “Popey’s has the op, so far it’s pleasing news in the sense the specialist was happy with what he found and what’s been done.”

As regards a timescale on his return, Dyche was typically reticent to name a date: “No, not yet. He was just really pleased, it was as clean as he could have hoped for, so good news on that.

“I haven’t spoken to him yet because he was still recovering, but I’ll speak to him later.”

Asked whether tomorrow night was too soon for Heaton, Dyche admitted: “Probably. We’ll make a judgement call, we’ll have to wait and see.”

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But he wouldn’t rule out dipping into the market: “It’s something we’re aware of. We’re always open minded to add the group if we can, whatever department that’s in, that’s an ongoing process. If we think we can increase the competition levels, then we’ll look at it.

“But you need to get the right ones in, we attempt not to bring people in for the sake of it, we want people who can affect the group and/or mature into the group and develop with us.”

As regards the transfer window, which closes in eight days, Dyche is still hopeful of adding to his squad: “I’m not concerned. I’m just familiar with what’s going on, it’s a never-ending story. It’s broken record time, we’re a wealthy club of sorts, but the club continues to look after not just year one.

“That makes it tough, the books have to balance, and the finance has to be there to do deals, and it does limit the pool you’re looking in.

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“And the numbers are just crazy, for any player. You can ring for a Championship player, League 1, and the numbers are enormous.

“It’s certainly a seller’s marker. We’re into a few situations, we had one come and go that we thought was going to go and it wasn’t, we’ve got a couple pending and think we have a chance on, but there’s no guarantees.

“We don’t just add and add and keep going until we hit a number, we try to be fair with our market.”