BURNLEY are today set to sign Brian Stock on a two-year deal.

Clarets boss Eddie Howe has been chasing the 30-year-old all summer in a bid to boost his midfield ranks.

But transfer talk has been drawn out, with Burnley treading carefully with their finances after prioriti-sing defensive rein-forcements, and more recently bringing in Sam Vokes on a permanent deal from Wolves.

However, I understand Stock (left) was at Gawthorpe for talks yesterday, and was due to put pen to paper to finalise his move from Doncaster Rovers today.

It has come as a welcome boost to Howe, who could face being without striker Danny Ings for a lengthy spell.

Twelve months after damaging knee cartilage just two days after completing his move from Bournemouth, the striker limped out of the second half of the Clarets 3-1 defeat at Rochdale on Tuesday night.

Ings was sent for a scan, and is now set to see a specialist for further assessment, and discuss the next course of action to get him back to full fitness.

The 20-year-old injured his right knee a year ago in only his second Clarets training session at Gawhorpe, and required surgery to repair a torn cartilage.

He went on to miss the first five months of the season, making a goalscoring comeback in a reserve team game against Preston in January.

It is not yet clear if his latest injury, to his left knee this time, is as serious. But in the worst case scenario he may again be out until the New Year.

The striker will certainly miss the start of the season, including Tuesday’s Capital One Cup game at Port Vale, which precedes the first league clash at home to Bolton Wanderers on August 18.

“I don’t think it was a particularly dirty game, it’s just that both teams were competitive. I don’t think there was anything malicious behind the injury, it’s just one of those things,” said Burnley manager Eddie Howe.

“We’re still hoping that it’s not too serious, but he is in some discomfort.”

With Ings ruled out, Martin Paterson on international duty with Northern Ireland, along with left back Daniel Lafferty, and summer signing Sam Vokes expected to earn a Wales call-up for their friendly with Bosnia Herzegovina, Howe is facing a striker shortage for the first round game at Port Vale.

But the Burnley boss is not entertaining a postponement.

“We’re going to be four light at Port Vale. I’m sure we’ll be okay in raising a team, but it’s not ideal,” said Howe, who is aiming to step up Marvin Bartley’s recovery from an ankle stress fracture.

“We have a couple of other niggles as well, but nothing serious.”

Alex MacDonald has played in midfield in pre-season, but could partner Charlie Austin up front, while Howe has experimented with other players out of their favoured position during the summer.

“We’ve shared the game time around. It was good to see some players get 90 minutes on Tuesday, especially the likes of David Edgar, who hasn’t had a great deal of football, and we used him in a midfield role where he’d be running around,” said Howe.

“Little things like that are important.”

  • A FOOTBALL League report shows Burnley spent £595,150 on agents’ fees in the 2011/12 season.

Barnsley spent least in the Championship (£124,998), with West Ham spending the most (£4,314,270).