Vincent Kompany provides Burnley team news update for Chelsea and addresses David Fofana absence

Jordan Beyer, Ameen Al-Dakhil, Han-Noah Massengo, Aaron Ramsey, Luca Koleosho and Nathan Redmond were all sidelined prior to the break.

With nine games remaining, starting at Chelsea this weekend, the Clarets could do with having as many players match fit as possible.

When asked if the international break came at a good time to clear up some of the ongoing injury problems, Kompany said: “On that side, yes, you could say.

“But there’s also this week where we have three games, so still we will have to assess a few players and make a few decisions.”

Burnley know they will definitely be without in-form striker David Fofana at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, given the Ivorian loanee is ineligible to face his parent club.

That’s a major blow for the Clarets, given he’s scored four times since joining the club during the January transfer window and having bagged in back-to-back games.

“He’s scored a lot of goals in a very short period of time, so that’s crucial for us,” Kompany said.

“But there’s another game on Tuesday and another game after that, so he will be available for all of these other games.”

On the plus side, Burnley do have a ready-made replacement lined up in Lyle Foster, who made his return from injury during the 2-1 win against Brentford prior to the international break.

It remains to be seen, however, whether the 23-year-old is fit enough to start and play a full 90 minutes after playing just a handful of minutes on his return following his six-week absence.

Elsewhere, the picture looks pretty positive on the injury front with all 10 players returning from international duty healthy.

“We’ve been lucky, no-one picked up anything on international duty,” Kompany said.

“There was a bit of a scare with one of the players, but in the end for us it’s been a positive international break, so we can look forward to the next game.”

Should Burnley claim their first back-to-back wins of the season this Saturday, they could move to within two points of safety if results elsewhere go their way.