Clarets striker Alan Lee is on target to achieve his goal of playing again this season after receiving a positive report from the surgeon who operated on his injured knee.

Lee was originally expected to miss the remainder of Burnley's promotion campaign after sustaining a cartilage tear at the start of December.

But he has remained optimistic about his chances of helping the Clarets in their bid to reach the First Division.

And medical opinion suggests his hopes may not be misplaced - especially if Burnley's season was to be extended by a place in the Second Division play-offs.

"He's ahead of schedule. It's still going to be a while but hopefully he might get a game before the end of the season which would be a good thing," confirmed manager Stan Ternent.

Burnley won't rush back the former Aston Villa front man, who has been missed as back-up for the current first-choice pair of Andy Payton and Andy Cooke.

But Lee's cartilage repair has knitted well and he was able to start running again this week.

And provided he suffers no set-backs, Clarets physio Ian Liversedge believes the outlook is bright for the Republic of Ireland under-21 international.

"He's doing very well. The surgeon still maintains it's six months but admitted that if he progresses as he has done over the next six weeks it could be a bit earlier," said Liversedge. "He's got to go back (to the surgeon) in six weeks and if he's still doing as well and everything's okay with him running straight then he can start twisting and turning.

"After that, if everything goes alright, it will probably be another four weeks until he can play."

Liversedge added: "He's had no setbacks at the moment. As long as he doesn't get one another six weeks would take him up to three months after the operation.

"And if he's started twisting and turning and then building his leg strength up, he might be ready to play four weeks after that.

"If all goes well, he should be fit by the middle to the end of April.

"But six months after the operation is the end of May and even if he could get back in five and we ended up in the play-offs he could be ready to feature in those."

Accrington Clarets are running a coach on the day to Bournemouth. Seats are available and anyone interested should contact Phil Miller on 01254 387230 or 07714 025879.

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