Soccer-Freak injury could rule out Burnley's Bardsley for Cardiff clash

Burnley defender Phil Bardsley could miss Saturday's Premier League match against Cardiff City after sustaining a freak leg injury while playing head tennis with his team mates, manager Sean Dyche said on Thursday. Bardsley suffered a cut to his leg after striking the edge of a table during the game in training, forcing him out of last Saturday's 3-1 victory at Bournemouth and leaving him in doubt for their next league match.

"He's touch and go," Dyche told a news conference. "They were messing around on a head tennis game and he caught the edge of the table and unfortunately cut his leg quite badly. We'll make a decision on him probably tomorrow.

"The modern table is a very fine bit of equipment but just misused on this occasion by accident but I'm not remotely questioning the equipment." Defender Matt Lowton, who stepped in against Bournemouth to make his 100th appearance for the club, could feature again if Bardsley is unavailable.

Striker Peter Crouch will miss the clash as he recovers from appendix surgery. Dyche was hopeful winger Aaron Lennon could play again this season after a knee operation in December.

Burnley are 14th in the standings with 36 points from 33 games, four places and eight points above 18th-placed Cardiff. (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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