BURNLEY manager Owen Coyle fears a depleted defence for tonight’s re-match with Reading.

Central defenders Steven Caldwell and Clarke Carlisle are both major doubts following Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Charlton Athletic, which captain Caldwell limped out of with a hip injury early in the second half, while Carlisle battled on for the full 90 minutes despite a hamstring problem.

The duo missed yesterday’s training session and will be assessed as late as possible before Coyle names his squad for the visit of Steve Coppell’s third-placed Royals (kick-off 7.45pm).

But, if replacements are required, he is confident they will rise to the occasion as the Clarets seek to make up for defeat in the previous meeting at the Madejski just over three weeks ago – their only loss in the last 13 league and cup outings.

“We have shown we can win games without key players, but you still like to have them available, particularly your centre halves,” said Coyle.

“We’ll give both until the last minute.

“Don’t get me wrong, given the amount of games they’ve played, missing a day’s training isn’t a major headache, the headache would be if they’re not available, which there’s every chance at the moment they won’t.

“If we get one out of the two out there, we’ll be doing well.

“But we’ll wait and see. If they’re not there there’s not a lot you can do about it, you’ve just got to reshuffle accordingly, and we’ll do that.

“But it won’t detract from the fact we will be positive in our outlook and go and try to start the game well and look to win another home match.”

And Coyle admits he is encouraged by the fact both players will be giving their all to be involved, after Chris McCann, who was rated just 50-50 ahead of the trip to Coventry with a leg injury, overcame it in time to keep his place in the starting line-up, while both Michael Duff and Carlisle made themselves available for the visit of Birmingham the previous weekend, despite missing almost two weeks’ training.

“The players have a mental strength and belief within them, and that spurs them on,” he said.

“They want to be a part of it, and you can see the spirit they’ve got.

“They enjoy each other’s company and that helps in getting players back to try and do their best for you.

“We’ve been trying to foster that. I’ve been at clubs where players weren’t able to play with knocks, but this group are prepared to go out there and do their best when they’re not 100 per cent fit.

“The players want to be a part of it. There will be weeks when they haven’t been 100 per cent fit, although you probably rarely are. There are always aches and pains and little niggles, but all credit to them.”

Should both Caldwell and Carlisle fail to recover in time to face Reading tonight, however, Coyle will have to pool all the resources in his squad after admitting the chances of him being able to strengthen appear slim.

“It’s a financial thing, and money is very tight. I do have a couple of things I would love to be able to do, but if the finance isn’t there; there’s not a lot you can do about that,” said the Burnley boss.

“All you can do is keep getting on to people, which I have been doing, and ask for a favour here and there, and we’ll see what happens.

“But we do have other players who can come in and fill in, so if the boys don’t make it, there might be an opportunity for them.

“We’ll deal with that in due course, but that won’t be the focus of the game, our focus will be on making sure we play well collectively, and if we do that, regardless of the personnel, we can win the game.”