DAVID Jones is rated “touch and go” by manager Sean Dyche for tomorrow night's Championship clash at struggling Fulham, but Joey Barton is expected to start.

The midfield duo were both hampered by knocks in Saturday’s derby win over rivals Blackburn Rovers, which fired them back to the top of the league.

Barton had treatment on a groin strain before kick-off but managed to get through the 90 minutes. However, Jones went off on the hour mark with an Achilles problem.

Dyche revealed it is something Jones had been struggling with for a while, and it could rule him out of tomorrow's trip to the capital, where Burnley go in search of a 13th game unbeaten and chance to stay at the summit.

“David Jones came off with a niggly Achilles injury which has been a challenge for him over the last couple of weeks so we’re having that checked out.

“He’s touch and go as to whether he’ll be ready,” said the Burnley boss.

“Joey had a bit of a niggle the other day and got through it well. He’s older and knows his body well and is probably an easier decision in a way because I could ask him and make a decision on that.

“It will be a light training session in order to make sure the players are ready to deliver again.”

Barton is expecting to make himself available tonight after getting through Saturday’s derby.

“Hopefully. That’s the plan. It’s had three days to settle down and I haven’t aggravated it beyond what it was before the game I don’t think,” he said.

“You can play through it but you just can’t kick the ball properly.

“I couldn’t really wrap my foot around the ball. I could play within five or 10 yards but anything over that, any real power just aggravated it.

“It was strange because it’s never great playing when you’re not at full throttle, certainly in big games like that when you know they’re going to be at it.”

But Dyche is encouraged by the options available to replace Jones if he is not fit for selection, including Fredrik Ulvestad and the fit-again Dean Marney, following his recovery from a calf problem.

“It’s something we’ve worked hard to build over the last few years. It wasn’t always available to us. We still worked with quite a tight squad. If you look at the numbers in the Championship I still think we’ve used 22/23 players compared to some teams who have used 30-plus, so we still are quite a tight group. But I want that," he said.

“The main thing is to have a challenging group where there are very fine margins.

“Even at the minute we’ve got the luxury for once of having players who are in the squad but don’t make the side or the bench and that’s an unusual situation since I’ve been here and it’s probably the first time with people coming back from injuries and having that balanced squad.

“So that’s another good thing in itself, to have that challenging group, not just the team and the subs but the group behind that - only a couple but they’re awaiting their chance as well.

“Dean Marney has had a good 10 days and is feeling clear and well so he comes back into the thinking, certainly the squad thinking.”

Of Ulvestad, who has come off the bench to effect the last two derby wins over Bolton and Blackburn, Dyche added: “We like Fredi and his challenge has been purely with Jonah and Joey particularly who have formed a very good relationship in there and performing very well together.

“We like him, we like what he’s about, he’s got used to how we work and the group.

“He came on in to a really tough game the other day, a tight game, an awkward one, not free-flowing or one he’s used to from us and yet he played his part in making sure we got a result.”