BURNLEY goalkeeper Danny Coyne will go under the knife next week before starting the long road back to fitness.

The Welsh number one has been sidelined since September when he fell awkwardly while collecting a cross in the Turf Moor clash with Brighton and Hove Albion.

Burnley's worst fears later materialised when it was confirmed that Coyne had suffered cruciate knee ligament damage - the second player to suffer that fate this season following Wayne Thomas's injury at Reading in August.

But where Thomas has made a miraculous recovery to start light training again after his own cruciate re-attached without the need for reparative surgery, there has been no such luck for Coyne.

And after spending the past two months in a leg brace to allow the medial ligament to heal, the unlucky Clarets stopper faces the next stage of his rehabilitation on Monday when he has an operation to repair the cruciate damage.