THE operation on Kevin Long’s knee following his anterior cruciate ligament injury has been declared a success by the surgeons.

The 24-year-old went under the knife on Wednesday night after suffering the season ending injury in the 3-3 draw against Newcastle at St James’ Park on New Year’s Day.

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He is likely to be out for around nine months after picking up the injury 20 minutes into his Premier League debut.

“Longy has had his operation and they were really pleased with what they saw, in the sense that it was just the ACL,” said Burnley boss Sean Dyche. “Sometimes you get other damage it was just the ACL so we’re pleased with that as it’s more straight forward to deal with.”

Long had come on to replace Jason Shackell at Newcastle, but the captain is in contention to return to the starting line-up for the visit of QPR. Michael Duff is unlikely to make it despite returning to training following a calf injury.

“Shacks has got a good chance, he is the closest,” said Dyche. “He’s been out on the grass but we will look at him this morning.

“Duffo has been actively training but he’s been out a number of weeks so whether we get him back in the squad is a decision. He’s out there on the grass with us.”

Summer signing Matt Taylor is also nearing a return following an Achilles operation, while Stephen Ward is going well after fracturing his ankle early in December.

“Wardy will be seeing the specialist just for an update on the scan next Wednesday,” Dyche said.

David Jones returned to training on Thursday after having three days off with a bug.