LONDON: Burnley striker Ashley Barnes will be out for an unspecified period of time after having surgery for a persistent hernia issue, manager Sean Dyche confirmed on Saturday. Barnes, 30, has played through the pain barrier this season scoring six league goals but Dyche said that it was time for the Austrian to seek a permanent solution to the problem. “He’d been battling away with it, trying to get on with it. Really it was our decision as much as his,” Dyche told a news conference ahead of Sunday’s Premier League home clash with third-placed Leicester City. “Barnesy puts up with a lot and gets on with it, but it was beginning to affect his performances. We spoke with him about it, he was honest about it and we agreed it needed to be done.” Burnley are 15th in the standings and in danger of slipping into the relegation zone having lost their last four games, but Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said his players will be wary. “They’re still a dangerous team,” Rodgers, whose side won the reverse fixture 2-1 in October, told reporters. “When we played here earlier in the season it was a close game and no matter where any team sits, the Premier League is exceptionally tough.” Leicester are looking to bounce back from a 2-1 defeat by Southampton last weekend. “Notoriously everyone knows how difficult it is to go to Burnley so we know we have to be much better than we were last week to have any chance of getting a result,” the Northern Irish coach added. “Sean’s teams have always got great resilience, they play good football so it’s a game that’s a real test but it’s a game that we look forward to.”
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