Dyche confirms severity of Long injury

Long was forced off after 20 minutes of his Premier League debut at Newcastle United on New Year’s Day, after replacing skipper Jason Shackell, who had picked up a calf strain.

The Irishman now faces a long recovery, but can take encouragement from striker Sam Vokes, whose goal to earn a replay at White Hart Lane next Wednesday was his first since returning from a similar injury.

Dyche said: “Longy has done his ACL. I think we have been very unfortunate.

“It is a blow to him, he got 20 minutes of Premier League football before it happened.”

And he confirmed Long, signed five years ago from Cork City, has recently signed a new two-year deal: “Yeah, he has. We will look after him.”

The injury adds to Dyche’s need for reinforcements in January, and he admitted the club are working hard to bring players in: “There are a couple of situations we have been working on. It depends on if they become available at the right cost base. We will wait and see.”

Michael Keane was allowed to play against Spurs by parent club Manchester United, and extending his stay remains a possibility: “We are just looking at that situation. That has been ongoing ever since he has been here.”

Asked whether a permanent deal was possible, he added: “We will wait and see. That is a discussion we will have with him and Manchester United. That has been going on for a while.”

As regards the game, Vokes levelled matters after Nacer Chadli’s opener, as Burnley fought back to draw their third successive game.

Dyche looked at the performance: “It was a lacklustre affair, particularly first affair. Their goal was a little bit fortunate, took a couple of deflections. I thought we were quite lively in the last 20 minutes.

“Vokesy was a plus, undoubtedly. When someone has waited that amount of time to come back from an injury. I am delighted to see him back. He went down ill the other day. If it wasn’t for that, I might have given him a start.”

Dyche only made two changes after going six games with the same starting line-up, and he explained: “We had to make changes tonight. That was everything we have got in terms of recognised players. They made seven changes and had £130m of talent on the pitch. I’m very pleased.”