Burnley FC pair are big doubts

But Brian Laws is boosted by the return to fitnenss of defensive lynchpin Andre Bikey.

Paterson was replaced at half-time on Tuesday night with a thigh problem, while Fox, worryingly,m was stretchered off after landing badly on his ankle.

Laws said: “Pato has come on over the last 48 hours.

“He’s improved massively, but I’m not so sure about the weekend.

“There is still a bit of swelling on Danny Fox’s ankle, he’s certainly out for the weekend.

“We’re waiting for that swelling to go down before we can make a really true assessment of his injury.

“It’s alerted us to what we may or may not have to do in the (transfer) market.

“We’re preparing ourselves for that just incase.

“But while there are players coming out there are players coming back.

“Andre Bikey has now been given the green light to go full at it now so we’re pleased that we’ve got Andre back in the fold, and of course Brian Easton who made his full league debut this season.

“He’ll be looking at a golden opportunity for himself as well.”

The fans are starting to lose patience with Burnley in ninth place in the table, but Laws believes the wins will come, after seven draws in the last 10 games: “The players are disappointed because our points tallies for the performances don’t marry.

“That’s the only thing that’s missing.

“But I’m delighted with the effort and commitment.

“The stats from the other night prove they ran themselves into the ground.

“If anyone thought we weren’t fit enough the stats tell us differently.

“Unfortunately we’re just not as ruthless as we should. We could be laying some of these teams down quite convincingly, but we’re not.

“We’ve got to move into the next game and believe it will happen – and it will happen, there’s no question about it.

“There’s nobody defeatist in this football club. Our objectives are going to stay the same all the way through the season. We are there to try to win games.

“No-one wants to go and draw a game, particularly when we’ve played so well and deserved to win.

“We’re convinced it’s only a matter of time.”

And he hopes the fans stay with him and the team: “I don’t believe any supporter is daft. If they’re seeing their team give everything and play as well as we have done then they should be pleased with the attitude and performances, and certainly the approach play to create so many opportunities. The difficulty is understanding why we haven’t won any of the games.

“I think although this season has seen us draw a lot of games, we’re only marginally away from having that winning formula.

“That’s why patience is important for us, particularly with the supporters because they affect just as much as anything else what happens on the pitch, and if they show their disappointment because of the way we’ve played and not won the game, it will definitely get to the players.

“We can’t afford that, because our objectives will not change. We will go into every game we play to go and win it.”