Marney goes under the knife after knee injury

Dean Marney has had an operation after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury

It was revealed last Tuesday that the 31-year-old had suffered the injury in the 2-2 draw at home to West Brom.

And after seeing a specialist earlier this week, the knee had settled sufficiently to be operated on, and Dyche was pleased with the outcome: “Deano’s had it done. When the knee settles enough, you can go in and operate, and he had it all done on the same day. It was pretty straight-forward, and after speaking to Ally (Beattie, physio), the specialist is happy and Deano is fine.”

Marney will now begin the road back to fitness, alongside Long, who suffered a similar injury on New Year’s Day at Newcastle.

Meanwhile, Stephen Ward is back in contention after recovering from a fractured ankle against Newcastle just over two months ago.

Ward played 65 minutes for the development squad last week, and, after another week or so training with the first team, is fit enough to return to the squad if selected.

Dyche said: “Wardy is back in the pack. He’s been training with the first team and is back in contention, certainly for the squad. We’ll see beyond that.”

Matt Taylor has been out since September after an operation to remove a spur off his heel, and Dyche added: “Matty had a bit of a reaction but he’s getting back on top of that.”