DEAN Marney may be on the comeback trail from a second knee ligament injury in two years but that didn't stop him travelling with the rest of the Burnley squad to Ireland last week.

Marney didn't take part in the group sessions but instead continued to work on his strength and recovering from the cruciate ligament injury that he suffered against Arsenal in January.

The 33-year-old suffered a similar injury in February 2015, in Burnley's last Premier League season.

But he remains a key part of Sean Dyche's first-team squad and the Clarets chief felt it was important to take Marney to the Carton House training camp used by Burnley last week.

"We’ve been really pleased to have Deano here, I think it’s important that he’s still around the group when we can," Dyche said.

"He’s done some good work and he’s going really, really well. I think he’s only five months in and he’s on the grass and he’s moving well.

"There’s still a long way to go, he knows that, he’s been through it before, but we’re really pleased to have him here and we’re delighted he’s going so well."

While some clubs keep their injured stars at arms length during a recovery period, Dyche is keen to keep them in the fold and make sure they feel part of the group.

It was a tactic the Clarets have used in the past with other long-term injury victims, having suffered a spate of cruciate knee ligament injuries in recent years.

As well as Marney, Sam Vokes, Kevin Long, Ashley Barnes and Lukas Jutkiewicz have all been through the same injury.

"Deano has been a very important part of the group and I’m sure he will be," Dyche said. "We try and do that with a lot of the players, we did with Vokesy and Barnesy, we try and keep them involved, Juke as well.

"It’s important for their mentality, it’s a long road when you’re injured, I went through it myself in my career and you can have some tough times so it's important they know they’re still part of what we do."

All of Burnley's cruciate knee ligament victims have come through the other side and returned to competitive action with the Clarets, with Jutkiewicz since moving on to Birmingham while Long, Barnes and Vokes all remain part of Dyche's squad.

The Turf chief believes Marney will benefit from having been through the recovery period before, as well as having teammates he can lean on for support.

"His understanding of it is there," Dyche said of Marney's previous experience. "The good side of having the knee problems we’ve had here is that there’s a wealth of knowledge here, from the physios and from individuals to talk to each other, the highs and lows of being injured, they can help each other through it.

"They all had a different recovery period of it but they all got there and they’re all playing again."