Clarets striker Alan Lee has taken his first tentative steps along the comeback trail - but definitely won't play again this season.

Lee was sidelined before Christmas when he picked up a knee injury a couple of days after opening his goalscoring account for the club in the Auto Windscreens Shield at Wigan.

The former Aston Villa front man, who joined the Clarets for a seven-figure fee in July, required surgery to repair cartilage damage and was sent home to Ireland to recover.

But he has now returned to Turf Moor to start the long haul back to full fitness, with his sights set on a return to action in the summer.

Burnley's assistant boss Sam Ellis confirmed: "Alan is back in Burnley and doing some light fitness work and rehabilitation.

"He looks as good as he can do at this stage. But the long-term diagnosis for Alan is that we have written off this season. The gaffer has already told him to be looking at pre-season and next season as his targets."

The 21-year-old has started his recovery work in the swimming pool before progressing to the gym, cycling and then jogging before resuming training with the rest of the Clarets squad further down the line.

Meanwhile, experienced campaigner Paul Cook is urging the Clarets' faithful to keep their feet on the ground as Burnley head into the second half of the season with promotion still in their sights.

The Clarets, who were trying to engineer another FA Cup shock at Coventry City this afternoon, were fifth in the Second Division at lunch-time today. After a relegation scrap last season that represents major progress and so Cook believes the disappointment that surrounded a couple of defeats away from home over the holiday period should be tempered with realism.

"People get carried away.

"What the manager is trying to do is improve the club, and things don't just turn overnight," said the midfield man.

While automatic promotion will require an inspired run of results, Burnley remain a very good bet for the play-offs.

They have turned themselves from relegation fodder to promotion candidates on the back of a run of just five defeats in 35 games, with just the £100,000 fee for Lee spent in the transfer market during that time.

And Cook added: "We have gone through Christmas fifth in the table, in the fourth round of the FA Cup and with one of the best home records in the whole division.

"Of course there are departments where we can get better. The manager knows that and we know that. But all we can do is keep trying to improve."

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