ASHLEY Barnes could make a significant step forward in his comeback from injury by playing a behind closed doors game, possibly as early as today.

The striker has been sidelined since suffering cruciate and medial knee ligament damage in the final game of Burnley’s Premier League season at Aston Villa last May.

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It was initially feared Barnes may be ruled out for the whole of the 2015/16 campaign, such was the extent of his injury.

But the 26-year-old has made good progress in his rehabilitation and is now ready for a return to action with the club’s development squad.

Having shown promising signs since his recent return to full training, Barnes - who scored five goals in the top flight and three important goals in the Clarets’ promotion campaign of 2013/14 after arriving mid-season - could play at least part of the U21s’ home game with Preston this afternoon.

“Barnesy is back with us and we’ll be looking to edge him towards his first game, probably a segment of a development game,” said Burnley boss Sean Dyche, who saw five of his players struck down with cruciate knee ligament injuries in an 18-month period, with Barnes the fourth.

“We’ll monitor Barnesy, but the main thing is he’s back training with the group actively - free training if you like.

“They have a period when they come in a bit more controlled, now he’s just training, as you would so that’s really good.

“We give him a period of that to make sure he’s ready to be with us, before we worry about a game, especially after so long out.

“But he’s making good strides.”

Dyche admitted that team-mates had initially been tentative around the former Brighton man, but that Barnes had not shirked challenges since his return.

“Players are human, they monitor the player who has been injured, so at first everyone is a bit unsure, but he’s not unsure!,” said the Burnley boss.

“Now he’s challenging as he usually would.

“It’s common sense - once the injury is right it’s a case of building up gradually and slowly, and more because of the amount of time out, reintroducing him, almost like a pre-season.

“The first couple of games they play maybe a half, sometimes 30 minutes, and then it build up, 70 minutes, a full game.”

But while it is now hoped Barnes will have some match minutes under his belt today, Dyche is refusing to set a deadline for his return to first team action.

“I don’t time scale players, certainly not when they’ve been out a long time, so we’ll see, but he’s going well,” said the Burnley boss, who has overseen the recovery of previous cruciate casualties Sam Vokes, Kevin Long and Dean Marney, who is currently sidelined with a calf problem, while Lukas Jutkiewicz was the last of the five, in August.

“Kev Long went out at Barnsley (on loan) and did really well and now he’s back in with us.

“Vokesy has been gradually getting better and better, and recently been back to what we know of him, looking sharp and a handful, scoring goals, in a real nice run of form.

“I’ve said it can take time for players, and different players respond in different ways - some hit the ground running, some it takes time to get that real ground-in fitness, never more so in the Championship, Saturday-Tuesday.

“That brings a different type of fitness and the body responds to that, and Vokesy has been a good advert for that, looking fitter and stronger all the time.”