Rovers official website met up with Paul Dickov to discuss club captain Rob Jones' injury and where he is in his rehabilitation after receiving scan results and seeing the specialist this week.
“Rob has had his scan and seen the specialist, who has said he can tentatively start heading the ball in training. We have to be careful with this type of injury and as much as we really want him back we cannot rush him”
“The scan indicated that there was not a big improvement since last time with the bulging of the disks but the good news is that it is not pressing on the nerves anymore. So today (Thursday) he will start heading balls and will see a specialist in London next Monday. We can’t take chances with this type of injury which is serious, so we need to take on board all advice and look after him”
“We have to make sure we do right by Rob as it’s his career and life. I know how serious this is as I had a disk removed from my back, which not only effects your playing, but also it’s a mental thing also you have to get past. We won’t risk Rob until we have 100% all clear from the specialist”
“This is a small step forward and we are hopeful we can get Rob back soon but we have to be aware it could be longer term, which means at this time we can’t put a timescale on him coming back. The next few days will see how it reacts and then it will be what the specialist says Monday before we know where we are at. We don’t want to think that it will rule him out for the season but we know there is a slight chance he may need an operation to fuse the disks, which I had done when I played. If that is the case then it would keep him out for the season but we are hopeful that that will not be needed”