OWEN Coyle is unhappy that television commitments mean Burnley must return to action at Barnsley tonight – just two days after having to play for an hour with 10 men.

The Clarets could only draw 0-0 at home to Championship strugglers Doncaster Rovers on Saturday after Steven Thompson was controver-sially sent off on the half-hour mark for a second bookable offence.

The striker’s one-match ban rules him out of tonight’s trip to Oakwell, where Burnley have not won since 1932, while Wade Elliott is also expected to be missing after limping off with a groin strain against Doncaster.

All those ingredients mean the Clarets will face a stern task against Barnsley and Coyle is unhappy that his players will have only two days between matches after Sky brought the game forward a day for live screening.

The match will be the first time Burnley, who have dropped one place to fifth in the table, have been live on Sky this season.

Coyle, who was happy with a draw against Doncaster in the circumstances, said: “We played with 10 men for over an hour and what it does is it takes an awful lot out of the players.

“We’ve got a big game tonight and very little time to recover “But such is the nature of the TV game, they’ve looked at Barnsley and Burnley and they can play on the Monday night – 24 hours after they played on Saturday – seeing as they’ve not had the TV game yet.

“It’s important we recover well. The lads gave a lot on Saturday in terms of effort and application.”

Ade Akinbiyi is in contention to make his first start of the season in the 7.45pm kick-off, although Martin Paterson is another possible option up front.

Alan Mahon is also pushing for his first start of the campaign but Coyle could bring Michael Duff into the side at right back, allowing Graham Alexander to switch into midfield.

Simon Davey’s Barnsley side – captained by former Claret Stephen Foster – are 17th after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Preston and Coyle knows Burnley will need to play better than they did in the draw with Doncaster.

He said: “It kept us in the top six where I think, with the size of the club and the finances involved, we probably shouldn’t be.

“But we’re there and we’re there on merit, and it’s important that we get back to the levels that we’re capable of.

“I’ll never have to question their desire, application and hunger but we could have passed the ball a lot better on Saturday at all stages of the game.

“So we have to get back to that tonight against a very good Barnsley side.”