Burnley boss facing tough decision over Edgar (From This Is Lancashire)

Burnley boss facing tough decision over Edgar

12:20pm Friday 14th September 2012 in Sport By Suzanne Geldard, Burnley FC reporter

EDDIE Howe said he will assess David Edgar before naming his squad following their return from international duty.

Both and Sam Vokes reported back to Gawthorpe yesterday following their respective World Cup qualifiers.

Canadian defender Edgar was involved in a double header with Panama – playing in Toronto before the return fixture on Tuesday.

Vokes came off the bench in Wales’ 2-0 defeat at home to Belgium, but played no part in their 6-1 thrashing away to Serbia.

“Looking back last year we were at times forced to play David after his long journeys and I think there were times when I probably would have looked to rested him in an ideal world,” said Howe.

“We’ll have a look at him and see how he is. Sometimes you can get a good gauge of how someone's reacted to the travelling just by looking at them.

“We’ll have an assessment of him and then make a decision.

“I think if it's a forward position it’s an easier decision to make. In a defensive position it’s harder. You do want to keep everybody settled – the organisation side of things from a defensive perspective to be consistent – but that’s not to say you can’t change it, so we’ll have a look at it.

“We’ve got competition for places all across the back four, so that certainly does give us more options.”

Paterson could return to the starting line-up after withdrawing from the Northern Ireland squad to work on his fitness after suffering a minor hamstring tear against Bolton.

“The training that he’s done has been a really good intensity and I think it’s done him the world of good,” said Howe.

“Hopefully we can keep him fit for a run of games, and he is desperate to play for his country so hopefully that will come again.”

He added: “With any player you can never tell what’s going to happen in a game. He certainly played like he was in the shape of his life while he was on the pitch.

“With Pato we do have to treat him carefully and be very sensible with what we do and what we ask him to do. I see no reason why he can't stay fit for a number of games.”