Scott Parker has been dealt some hugely contrasting injury news ahead of Burnley’s pivotal clash against Leeds United.

Ex-Burnley man Jonjo Shelvey insists Middle East move wasn't motivated by money

The Clarets were sweating over the fitness of first-choice striker Lyle Foster after he was forced to withdraw from South Africa’s squad midway through the international break.

But Parker has revealed that knock is nowhere near as serious as first suspected and the 25-year-old could even be involved against Leeds on Saturday.

But on the flipside of the coin, Burnley are now facing the prospect of being without Connor Roberts for a matter of months.

Prior to the international break, it was hoped the Welshman – who has yet to play so far this season – would be back in contention after making his return to training.

But Parker says that will no longer be the case.

“Connor's had a little bit of a setback,” he revealed. “He will be out for a little bit longer now. It's probably looking like a few months, which is not ideal.

While the news on Lyle Foster is positive, the Clarets have been dealt a big setback with Connor Roberts, inset. Pictures: Getty Images

“It's a big setback for us, but hopefully he'll come out the other end of that.”

The Burnley Express has launched a new WhatsApp channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates directly to your phone. Simply click this link to join our Burnley Express WhatsApp channel.

The Clarets boss added: “There was an issue there in and around his Achilles that we thought we could maybe manage a little bit. There were some options for us, a more conservative option, which we went down the route of and Connor did to try and get back – but that hasn’t seemed to work.

“We’ve now got to that point where we've made a decision to actually get this fixed now.”

As for Foster, Parker is hopeful his striker will be available to face Leeds as long as he returns to Gawthorpe in good shape.

“It's probably better news than we initially thought. It seems to be just a dead leg,” he explained.

“He travels back now. He travelled back this morning and he'll be in this afternoon [Thursday].

“My conversations with Lyle and medical conversations, we're hoping that he'll be fine for the weekend. We'll have to just see when he comes in and we'll have to manage that and see where we are tomorrow [Friday] with him.”

Both Jordan Beyer and Zeki Amdouni remain long-term absentees.

Your next Burnley FC read: Burnley man lifts the lid on 'very weird' reunion with Liverpool boss Arne Slot