INJURED Andy Gray admits life inside the oxygen chamber is not the most exciting.

But the Burnley striker could soon be stepping out of hyperbaric therapy as he recovers from a triple metatarsal break to his right foot.

Gray was initially scheduled for a comeback in early February, but after yesterday undergoing a second X-ray on the foot, the 29-year-old will hope to bring his return date forward.

He is spending up to 100 minutes a day, for five days a week, in an oxygen chamber based at a centre in Leeds which treats Multiple Sclerosis patients.

Hyperbaric treatment, which is becoming widely used by footballers and athletes with injuries, has proved successful in speeding up the healing process.

"I just hope it does some good," said Gray, Burnley's leading goalscorer this season with 10 Championship strikes.

"I go in there for about an hour and 40 minutes for five days a week.

"It's the first time I've been in an oxygen chamber.

"The place where I go is a centre in Leeds for people with MS. It's supposed to help them.

"Every day, I just sit there with an oxygen mask on and read. There's not a great deal else I can do in there."

Gray added: "I've done my Achilles before, but this is probably the longest time I've been out for.

"It's very frustrating. I went to the Sunderland game last Saturday and that was the first game I've been to since.

"I just want to be involved and out there playing. It's pretty hard to sit and watch when you are used to being out there."

Gray, who suffered the injury blow in last month's victory over Leeds, is utilising a piece of equipment more often used to treat decompression sickness or carbon monoxide poisoning.

The Scotland international will be breathing 100 per cent oxygen through a mask over his face while under three times the normal sea-level atmospheric pressure. Ordinary air contains just 21 per cent oxygen.

The chamber, which forces oxygen at an increased pressure to enter the body tissues, is primarily used for wound healing and also in the treatment of autism and cerebral palsy.

Many people use hyperbaric to diminish bruising and swelling after plastic surgery and it is also used to help deep-sea divers overcome the Bends.

More recently, it has been used by athletes, football and rugby players to hasten recovery from injury, apparently with excellent results.

In one case, an athlete with ligament damage reduced recovery time by 33 per cent with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Danny Coyne and former Clarets winger Jean-Louis Valois have both spent time in the oxygen chamber during Steve Cotterill's reign at Turf Moor and the Clarets boss is an advocate of the methods.

"I think it's very successful," said Cotterill. "We used a hyperbaric oxygen chamber when I was at Cheltenham.

"They definitely work, without a shadow of a doubt."