Striker Kieran Agard will miss the remainder of Rovers’ season after suffering a hamstring injury during last weekend’s game at Fleetwood Town, manager Gary McSheffrey has confirmed.
Agard was forced off early in the goalless draw at Highbury and a subsequent scan revealed he had torn his hamstring and will require surgery.
“He’ll have surgery on Monday and it’ll be a ten week rehab so he’s out for the rest of the season,” McSheffrey said.
“Hopefully he will be back for pre-season.
“He seemed to jar his leg on the Fleetwood pitch and it sort of hyperextended his knee a little bit.
“It’s still fully intact at the knee and the glute area but there was a substantial tear in the middle from the hyperextension. He’s having to have it reattached.”
The Rovers boss admitted his disappointment at the injury setback with Agard handed his first start in two months.
“We put him back in from the start on Saturday, looking for his experience,” McSheffrey said.
“His sharpness in training had picked up and he was ready to prove a point.
“It’s disappointing. We’re gutted for Kieran but we support him in whatever way we can to help him get back to full fitness.”
An illness for winger Jon Taylor has impacted his return to training while fellow long-term absentee Cameron John has rejoined the main group at Cantley Park.
“Jon was at St George’s Park doing some rehab and he’s just picked up an illness so we’re waiting to get to the bottom of that,” McSheffrey said.
“We hope it’s not too serious.
“Cam has continued to train this week. He’s joined in with the group quite a lot as a floater really, with not too much contact yet.
“It’s good to get him back out there, passing the ball about and with a smile on his face.”
Rovers will be without the services of loanees Ethan Galbraith and Mipo Odubeko this weekend due to international call-ups for Northern Ireland U21 and Republic of Ireland U21 respectively.