CHRIS Wood has a 'very strong chance' of being involved for Burnley against Southampton this weekend as Sean Dyche monitors the fitness of his front men.

The New Zealand striker missed out on Monday night's 1-0 win over Newcastle United as he battles a minor hamstring injury picked up in the defeat at Manchester City.

But Dyche said Wood, who has scored three Premier League goals since his £15million move from Leeds United, was close to being in the squad for the win over the Magpies that took the Clarets seventh, and he could return on the south coast on Saturday.

“Chris was close, it was a joint call, between ourselves, the medical team and myself," Dyche said of Wood's absence.

"He’s on the grass, moving well, but you almost want them overfit after an injury, so you have real strength in the injury.

“I think he’s got a stronger, not definite, but a very strong chance for the weekend."

Ashley Barnes was handed his first Premier League start of the season against Newcastle with Sam Vokes and Nahki Wells only deemed fit enough for the bench.

Vokes was also battling an injury in the week leading up to the game.

"Vokesey had a muscle strain last weekend, so he’s only trained a couple of days," Dyche said. "Barnesy, as we know, is an awkward customer, and I thought he did well without much protection, but he kept at it."

Wells made his first appearance in a matchday squad for the Clarets since his £5million move from Huddersfield on deadline day, but he wasn't called into the action.

The striker has been recovering from an option to remove a pin in his foot that took place during the summer.

He has twice featured for Burnley Under-23s as part of his comeback, as well as playing 90 minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly with Sheffield United at Turf Moor.

But Dyche said he still needed more game time, and he could feature for the Under-23s in their Premier League Cup tie with Colchester United at Curzon Ashton on Thursday night (7pm).

"Nahki still needs more minutes," Dyche said.

"We thought it was appropriate to put him in, especially with Woody being out, and he needs that mixture now of getting involved with us and getting more game-time, so we will look to get that sorted out for him in the coming weeks."