“It’s not bad and it’s nothing to worry about!” — Burnley boss Vincent Kompany issues update on Scott Twine’s setback

The 23-year-old hasn't been seen since hitting the post in a 20-minute cameo against Huddersfield Town on the opening day of the season.

Swindon-born Twine, who was voted the EFL League One Player of the Season last term after netting 20 times for MK Dons, took two steps forward and one step back when closing in on a return to action.

The 2021/22 PFA Team of the Year entrant had been side-lined with a muscle strain at the start of the season, which he has recently aggravated in training. It is now unknown whether he'll feature ahead of the World Cup in Qatar.

However, Kompany said: "Scott has been a little bit unlucky in the start of his journey with us. He's one that we're having to slow down a bit, manage and just give him a chance for whenever he's actually ready to come on the scene.

"The worst thing I could do is put a time frame on it now. I would like to tell you that it's tomorrow, it's in a week's time, which would be good for you and good for me, but the most honest thing I can say is that it isn't bad and there's nothing to worry about. He's having niggles, we've got to manage them, but we'll get there."

Premier League Hall of Famer Kompany is reluctant to rush his summer signing's return. Twine has clocked up 100 appearances since the start of the 2020/21 campaign, when plying his trade in League Two with Newport County, so his setback since moving to Turf Moor is an anomaly.

Kompany wants his star man fully fit and ready to attack the rest of the season, without the risk of suffering any further complications. "We want to ensure we have him for a long period of time," he said.

"He's generally a player who's fit and willing to apply himself to improve so I'm sure that once he's back he'll be back for a period of time. It's that 'niggle' period that we're in, which we just need to get him out of."

Kompany added: "He's been making a lot of progress, until he hasn't. You can have big injuries, which sometimes give you a clean start and a clean finish, but the niggles are what they are. Sometimes you've got a little problem that keeps reappearing so it's about knowing the body of the player and the player knowing his own body.

"It takes a bit of time and now we're in that 'niggle' zone. The signs are there to say that he'll be back soon and once he's back he'll be good for us. We'll have a lot of joy from having him in the team and at the club."

Elsewhere, the trip to South Wales, where the Clarets take on Cardiff City, might come too soon for defender Charlie Taylor. The 29-year-old was replaced by Borussia Monchengladbach's Jordan Beyer in the Lancashire derby against Preston North End at Deepdale.

He then sat out of the 2-1 victory at home to Bristol City prior to the international break. Kompany said: "He's good. With his experience I think he pulled himself out at some point, which is important.

"Where he has had the injury he's had it a few times in the past so he sensed it and had the feeling that it was going to happen again. Now we have him back so whether he's fit again or not for Saturday, we'll see. If it's not Saturday it'll be Wednesday."