BURNLEY winger Alan Moore could be out for up to a month after a hernia operation.

It is just the latest injury blow for a player who saw his Middlesbrough career wrecked by a string of injuries that made it impossible to hold down a place in the first team at the Riverside.

But while Clarets boss Stan Ternent had gloomy news about Moore he is confident that another key player Glen Little will be back soon.

"Alan Moore needs a hernia operation and that will keep him out for three weeks to a month," he said. "But Glen Little will be close to being available for the match against Barnsley on Saturday."

The two men both came off injured in the defeat at Norwich City that was the start of the current run that has seen Burnley take just one point from a possible 12.

Their absence has been crucial as the flood of goals has dried up in the last couple of matches, both lost to the only goal with the latest setback coming at the City Ground on Saturday.

But Ternent is refusing to press the panic button and he stressed: "We have now lost our last three away games by the odd goal, 2-1 at Norwich, 1-0 and West Brom and 1-0 again at Forest.

"But I think we deserved a point, I thought it was going to be a no-goal game. To be honest I thought that they scored when we were in the ascendancy, we were coming into it. I think we passed the ball well against a very good side.

"Nik (Michopoulos) had a fantastic match and it was a cruel deflection for the goal. But sometimes in football you don't get what you deserve. We just have to be strong and keep battling away. I know it will turn around for us.

"We went to Forest to try and win the game. We brought on Dimitri Papdopoulos, Andy Payton and Tony Grant and we were attacking in the way we set about it. We are more adventurous now when we go away from home."

Ternent had to change his game plan because of the latest injury problem to hit his squad. French defender Arthur Gnohere, who had started alongside Ian Cox and Steve Davis in a three man defence, was limping from the early stages and he was eventually forced off with an ankle problem that will require treatment this week.

But Ternent was not looking for excuses as he said: "Lee Briscoe can sit in there and it did give the fans a chance to have a first look at Tony Grant."

Grant admitted he was disappointed not to have been able to help the Clarets claim three points on his debut. He said: "I saw a bit of the ball, both sides had a few chances but they got the goal that mattered. It was disappointing not to get off to a winning start."

The match also signalled a league debut for Greece Under-21 international Papadopoulos and he received a great ovation from the travelling fans as he replaced Ian Moore in the second half.

He had earned his place on the bench after good displays for his country and in the reserves last week and he will be hoping to impress again this week when the reserves travel to Barnsley on Wednesday night.

Ternent is still targeting an average of two points a game in order to push for a promotion place and for the first time this season the club has dropped below that record. But home games against Barnsley and Crystal Palace off hope they can get back on track.

Republic of Ireland international Moore will clearly not be available for those games so Ternent will be hoping that Little will be.

Graham Branch is also on the road to recovery but, although he is hoping to play some part against Barnsley's reserves in midweek, Saturday's first division match may come too soon for him.