PETER Swan was today undergoing a scan on his injured knee with the Clarets hoping that he won't be added to their growing list of absentees.

Burnley had Lenny Johnrose and Ally Pickering sent off as they lost 2-0 at Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday to slip two places to 18th-place in the Second Division.

The pair will be banned for Burnley's trip to play-off chasing Wigan Athletic a week on Saturday, while Johnrose will also be forced to sit out the home clashes with Manchester City and Preston.

Burnley boss Stan Ternent, also without the suspended Steve Davis for the weekend visit of Gillingham, will therefore be hoping that Swan's injury is not as bad as first feared.

"He said he felt something go and he was in a lot of pain," said Ternent.

"He will have a scan today. We don't know what it is yet and there's no point in guessing. It could be better or it could be worse than we thought."

Swan immediately indicated his distress when he fell to the ground only nine minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute with Burnley two goals down at Adams Park.

He was stretchered off with his legs strapped together and got onto the Clarets team coach on crutches.

Swan's injury was only one element of a catalogue of disasters for Burnley who have been sucked into the fringes of the relegation battle.

Johnrose was sent off for a reckless tackle after just 25 minutes and Pickering followed him two minutes from time for a second bookable offence.

Ternent felt both decisions were harsh ones by referee Brian Coddington, who earlier this season controversially sent off Andy Payton against Darlington as Burnley went out of the FA Cup.

"He (Johnrose) mistimed a tackle and it was a yellow card in my view," said Ternent, who felt an elbow in Pickering's face should have been penalised before the defender pulled back Andrew Baird to collect his second caution.

Burnley were certainly right to complain about the referee's lack of consistency as he failed to send off Wycombe defender Nicky Mohan late in the game.

And Coddington also allowed the Wycombe management team to go unchecked when they came onto the pitch and seemingly implored him to send Johnrose off. Mohan then rubbed salt into the wounds by doing his best to see that Pickering became the eighth Burnley player to be dismissed this season.

Ternent said: "There was an exact same tackle in the second half on Brad Maylett which resulted in a yellow card so I can't see how one can be red and one can be yellow. "They wouldn't have beaten us if we had 11 men on the field. I don't know what else I can say other than criticise the referee and I'm not allowed to do that.

"People work hard through the week and the Burnley fans have come all the way down here and it's like stealing money off them. It's totally unfair."

Wycombe manager Lawrie Sanchez - sent from the dug-out against Preston eight days earlier - backed up Ternent's claims by admitting that Mohan was lucky to stay on the field in light of the Johnrose decision which he claimed caught him by surprise.

"It was bad tackle from a fellow professional. He's dived in two-footed on the lad from behind and he's caught him without being anywhere near the ball," said Sanchez.

"Whether it was a sending off offence or not, I would probably say it was no worse than Nicky Mohan's at the end to be quite honest and I must admit I was surprised he was sent off. But I was incensed it was that type of tackle in the first place.

"You catch a person like that and you finish their career with those. The lad wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't as if he was in any danger area and it was a last-ditch tackle.

"It was a just a dive-in tackle and he has paid the consequences but as I say Nicky was quite fortunate at the end. He could have gone off for a similar type challenge."

However, Ternent wouldn't allow the performance of the officials to mask a defeat which means Burnley have accrued the same number of points as they had at the corresponding stage last season and stand just five points above the relegation zone.

"There were a lot of performances that could have been better," said the Burnley boss, who recognises that the Clarets must dig deep to stay clear of the bottom four.

"We have had a scrap all the way. Burnley have had a scrap for the last two years.

"I am trying to turn it round and I think the sooner the players realise it the better," he added.

Both Burnley and Wycombe will be looking for a minimum 50-point safety target and Sanchez praised his side for taking their chance to inch closer to it.

He added: "11 men feel sorry for 10. Whether they would actually say it (I don't know), but deep down they do feel sorry for 10 men and that's why 10 men always do well against 11.

"I told them that they can either feel sorry for them and go down or they can go out and take them to the cleaners.

"They decided to make the most of it and they got two great goals, I thought. But even with 11 men we would have beaten them."

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