Maxwel Cornet could miss up to eight Burnley games during AFCON 2021

The squads are set to be officially named from Friday, with Premier League players reporting for duty after Boxing Day’s round of fixtures, and, potentially, unavailable until the final on February 12th.

That means Cornet, who missed Burnley’s last game against West Ham with a thigh problem, which would have kept him out of the matches against Watford and Aston Villa, could miss a maximum of eight games – including the FA Cup third round tie at home to Huddersfield Town, and any potential fourth round game if the Clarets advance.

Ivory Coast are in Group E with Equatorial Guinea (January 12th), Sierra Leone (January 16th), Algeria (January 20th), with the top two teams of each group, along with the four best third-placed teams, advancing to the round of 16.

Clarets boss Sean Dyche said of Cornet’s impact last week: “The running side of it, the physical side, the robustness, I think he’s adapted well to it.

“He continues to do so.

“His language is getting better, which is important, and he seems to be quite settled.

“He’s just had a couple of awkward injuries that have slowed his progress, but when he’s played, he’s been effective, and he’s enjoying it.”