CHRIS McCann has not yet been ruled out of Saturday’s trip to Watford as Burnley continue to assess the hamstring injury the midfielder picked up in the weekend defeat to Millwall.

The Clarets skipper limped off after only 39 minutes of the 3-1 home loss – leaving Eddie Howe’s side light in central midfield in the absence of Dean Marney, who missed the game after his wife gave birth only hours beforehand.

McCann’s injury is now being monitored, with the 24-year-old likely to have a scan to check on the extent of the problem.

But Burnley remain hopeful that the injury is not serious and, while McCann must be considered a doubt for the Championship clash with Watford on Saturday, he is yet to be ruled out of contention.

The Clarets will be keen to return to winning ways against the 17th-placed Hornets after three defeats in their last four games.

That has left Howe’s men 11th in the Championship table – six points behind the play-off spots, having played a game more than many of their rivals.

Burnley switched to a 3-5-2 formation on Saturday as they attempted to cope with their shortage of natural midfielder but they are expected to welcome back Marney on Saturday.

On-loan wide man Josh McQuoid will also be available after being refused permission to play against parent club Millwall.

As a result the Clarets are thought to be unlikely to consider dipping into the loan market for a midfielder at this stage, unless McCann’s injury proves to be more serious than first thought.

Burnley are optimistic the Irishman will be sidelined for a matter of days rather than weeks – in contrast to Junior Stanislas, who is still to return from the hamstring injury he picked up at Middlesbrough in January. Martin Paterson picked up a similar problem in the same game but was back within a month.

McCann has made 38 appearances this season in his first full campaign since his return from a series of knee problems that hampered him for almost two years.

Jay Rodriguez has been confirmed as the Carling Cup’s top scorer this season.

Rodriguez netted five goals in only four games in the competition this term, notching four in the first round win over Burton and also scoring against Barnet.

Blackburn Rovers’ Ruben Rochina and Leeds’ Ramon Nunez both scored four, with no-one in action in Sunday’s final between Liverpool and Cardiff able to catch Rodriguez in the race.

Burnley’s reserve team return to action tonight when they host Wrexham at Turf Moor at 7pm.