Iron manager Brian Laws has confirmed that centre-half Niall Canavan broke his nose during Tuesday night's 2-1 loss at relegated Bury.
United took the lead on the stroke of half time when Karl Hawley headed home from Mark Duffy's cross. However, the home side hit back with two goals in as many second half minutes from Jonson Clarke-Harris and Nicky Ajose.The 22-year-old challenged for a header inside the Bury penalty box after just 10 minutes following a clash with Shakers defender Ashley Eastham, who is on loan from Championship side Blackpool.
After Tuesday night's defeat, Laws told The Iron Player: "Niall has broken his nose and that is why he came off. That was a major body blow for us because Niall has been performing well.
"He is going to have to have surgery on that straight away because it is completely smashed, which shows his bravery.
"For me he is one of the players that have actually shown any bravery at the football club so I feel for him and we will definitely miss him for the next couple of games."
This injury for the Republic of Ireland U21 international means that he will be out for the remainder of the season, alongside fellow teammates Callum Kennedy, Damien Mozika and Josh Walker.
Meanwhile striker Akpo Sodje was also forced off on Tuesday night's only minutes after he had come on as a second half substitute.
Laws had already used his three substitutions so it meant the Iron had to play the remaining 15 minutes of the match with 10 men.
The Iron boss said: "Akpo Sodje pulled a thigh muscle during the match so there was no way that he was going to be able to continue."
See much more from Brian Laws, Tom Newey and Michael Collins on The Iron Player.