STEVE Cotterill is preparing another late head count for tomorrow's long trek to Brighton.

The Burnley manager again has a plethora of injuries to contend with, including a fresh setback in midweek that the manager is keeping under wraps.

And Cotterill admitted there was little chance of any of his sidelined players returning to action to bolster his numbers in time for kick off at the Withdean Stadium.

He said: "It's been good to have a free week after having games rolling into games, but we haven't had a lot of players training because most of them are still in the treatment room.

"I think we're probably in the same situation this weekend as we were when we went to Leeds.

"We've got another injury which we picked up in training this week and I think he's going to struggle, so we're quite thin on the ground again.

"This week we're also going to have to ignore certain people and not be tempted to put them back in. We've just got to go with what we've got!"

Cotterill's comments make it highly unlikely that Micah Hyde, Frank Sinclair or Jean-Louis Valois will make the trip, while the fresh injury looks like providing another defensive headache.

In addition, Danny Coyne and Richard Chaplow are continuing their recuperation, although striker Ian Moore and the versatile GrahamBranch are fit to return after a midweek run out in the reserves.

Cotterill added: "They needed that reserve game. I thought when Ian came back last Saturday, after a period of time out, he looked a bit rusty and like he hadn't played for a few weeks.

"He does all the honest things, but all the other things that nearly always come off for him don't when you're a bit rusty.

"Lads don't like playing in the reserves, but I just think it's a case of we had to do that and the same goes for Graham."

Cotterill returns to another of his former stomping grounds at Brighton, where he played on loan at the old Goldstone Ground as a player.

And the Clarets chief is hoping his side can capitalise on Albion's poor form at the Withdean Stadium, where they have won just two of their nine league games.

He said: "I had a very enjoyable time at Brighton. I was there for three months and wanted to sign, but at the time they didn't have any money, so that went out of the window.

"It's a massive club and I was lucky enough when I was there that they were at the Goldstone.

"I'm looking forward to going back there, and even though the Withdean Stadium is a smaller arena, it's still a massive club."