Free agent Joey Barton is back in training with Burnley, whose manager Sean Dyche has refused to rule out a permanent reunion with the midfielder in January.
Barton, 34, played an influential role in the Clarets' promotion to the Premier League last season and was voted Player of the Year by the club's fans before rejecting a new deal and joining Rangers in the summer.
Barton managed just eight matches for the Glasgow outfit before being suspended for his part in a training ground bust-up following a 5-1 thrashing by rivals Celtic and was later handed a one-game ban for breaking Scottish Football Association rules on gambling.
His Rangers contract was terminated earlier this month but the midfielder is unable to sign for a new club until January.
Dyche was, nevertheless, quick to offer assistance and Barton is utilising the club's Barnfield training complex for conditioning work.
There is no immediate prospect of the former Manchester City, Newcastle and Queens Park Rangers player linking up with his old teammates but Dyche would not distance himself from such a move in the coming weeks.
"I said last week if he needed us and wanted to come in he'd be more than welcome, which he is, and he's been training with us for a number of days now,'' Dyche said.
"He's not with the first team, he's doing background fitness work with the sports science team. That's an ongoing thing until things change in the future. He's just enjoying being back in and getting himself fit. He was generally fit of course but he's just topping up.
"He'd had an indifferent time with being away from the club [Rangers] and different things going on in Scotland, so it's about getting him fit and sharp. That's good for him. Who knows about us? We'll take that on when I see fit.''