Speculation mounted yesterday on the position of Nahki Wells and his 2017/18 Premier Division season.
Burnley’s Under 23 Professional Development League game against Hull City at the Tameside Stadium was abandoned after 34 minutes due to fog, but with Wells not physically playing a game in a number of weeks, speculation was that he would suit up, however Wells was not even named to the bench.
But today Wells and Jon Walters both scored as the Burnley enjoyed a productive training ground work-out against Wigan Athletic.
Boss Sean Dyche used the exercise at Barnfield to give some-game time to a handful of his senior players ahead of the busy Christmas programme.
And as well as Wells and Walters, Anders Lindegaard, Matt Lowton, Dean Marney, Ashley Westwood, Sam Vokes and Freddie Ulvestad all completed 90 minutes of the 2-1 victory to help top up their match sharpness.
Lowton – who returned as a substitute at Brighton last Saturday after missing four Premier League games with a knee injury – was the only first-teamer employed across a back four which also included Ali Koiki and an under-18 centre-back pairing of Olly Younger and Scott Wilson.
And they were given a thorough work-out before the break as a Wigan side, including a handful of senior players and a number of trialists watched by manager and ex-Claret Paul Cook, posed a threat going forward.
Lindegaard had to make a couple of smart saves to keep the scores level, although the best chance of the opening half fell to Wells, whose shot was blocked after he was picked out by a fine diagonal ball from Westwood.
Ten minutes into the second half Wells did show his finishing power, though.
The former Huddersfield Town forward switched roles with Walters and took up a more central position alongside Vokes.
And when he received the ball from Walters, his shot on the turn was perfectly placed into the bottom corner from 12 yards out.
The Clarets dictated for much of the second half and doubled their lead with 20 minutes to go.
This time, Lowton made the perfect delivery from his right-back slot for Walters to meet with a downward header which he planted firmly into the back of the net to continue his move towards a first-team return.
Wigan rallied and pulled one back from the penalty spot following a foul by Lowton.
But it was the Clarets’ who went closest to striking again when Wells saw a shot saved just before the end of decent game which should help stand the Clarets’ extended squad in good stead over the holiday schedule of four games in 10 days
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