BURNLEY are scouring the loan market to find cover for injured striker Danny Ings.

The 25-goal top scorer, who was crowned Championship player of the year at Sunday night’s Football League Awards, is set to undergo further tests this week on ankle ligament damage sustained against Birmingham City.

The England Under 21 international, whose 20th league goal secured a long-awaited victory over rivals Blackburn Rovers in the previous game, seems set to be sidelined for the remainder of March.

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With a 10-point advantage over third-placed Derby County to protect going into the final 10 Championship games of the season, the Clarets are conscious of having sufficient cover if Ings’ absence stretches into April.

“He’s got a couple of tests in Leeds today (Monday) and Wednesday,” said Burnley’s co-chairman, John Banaszkiewicz, who was at the Football League ceremony in London.

“We hope for a good outcome, but in the interim we have to look for a replacement if it’s more serious or worse than expected.

“We are in the market for loans for cover, with not many games left to play.

“The manager and recruitment staff are really focusing on that before next week’s deadline.”

But Sean Dyche expects to face the same struggles he has encountered all season with regard to loan signings, with prospective targets struggling to find a way into a side that has been both consistent in results and selection.

“We’ve been looking all season and it still comes down to alignment,” said the Burnley boss.

“It’s the players as well. There are a few we’ve been in touch with but they look at the group and think ‘am I going to play?’ “You sign players, as with Ashley (Barnes), they’re part of the group, he’s willing to work every day to get his chance. You give someone a loan spell and they’re thinking ‘what have you brought me in for unless I’m playing?’ “There aren’t a lot in that group who look like they want to come out of the side.”