United goalkeeper Sam Slocombe is set for 8-12 weeks on the sidelines as he continues to recover from his shoulder injury.
The club captain has had a scan and seen a specialist over the last week and revealed that rest is now the main order of the day.Slocombe is still able undertake fitness work and has placed large importance on trying to stay as physically active as possible.
He told THE IRON, the club’s official matchday programme: “I had a scan and then saw the specialist and the specialist came back with a bit better news than the scan initially gave.
“I’ve got a four week period now where I’ve just got to allow the injury to heal before I can do anything on it.
“We’ll reassess after that four week period and hopefully by the end of that it will have near enough finished healing.
“Once that has finished, I’ll have a rehabilitation period of a similar sort of time so I’m looking at 8-12 weeks out in total.
“That all depends on what kind of movement I can do and hopefully pain from that movement disappears and I don’t get any pain at all and once that’s the case, I can crack on with training and getting back to match fitness.
“I’m still able to do a bit of running, foot work and leg weights using machines so there’s still quite a lot that I can do.
“I’ve been working with the fitness coach every couple of days doing running but the stuff that I can’t do is vital for the position I play and I’d say that I’m at least four weeks off contact training so until that point I’m not looking any closer to match fitness.”
After it became obvious that Slocombe was in for a stint away from first team action, fellow shot stopper James Severn looked set for a regular run of games between the sticks.
But after being selected for the Iron’s home game against Preston in mid-August, Severn picked up an injury himself and he too is now on the club’s treatment table.
“It’s disappointing for James because I’ve been in his position before where you have to kind of sit and wait for your opportunity,” Slocombe continued.
“He managed to get his but unfortunately he’s got an injury and he’s looking at about 6-8 weeks out.
“I do know that James tends to recover quite quickly from injury so that could reduce his time out of action but the stats say that it’s usually a 6-8 week injury which is gutting for him because he’s got his chance and unfortunately he’s not going to be able to showcase what he can do.”
Upon learning of the injuries to his two most experienced custodians, Scunthorpe manager Russ Wilcox acted quickly to find a replacement.
Bobby Olejnik has been brought in on loan from Peterborough United to provide temporary cover and Slocombe has been impressed with how the Austrian has done since coming in.
He added: “Bobby is a really nice guy, he came in under difficult circumstances but he’s done well and he’s come here to show what he can do.
“He’s a good figure, a good trainer and he’ll be an important part of the squad for the foreseeable future.
“We’ve made him feel welcome and it’s kind of a unique relationship you have as goalkeepers. You don’t want to see fellow goalkeepers do badly or anything, you want to see them do well and he has up to now and hopefully he can continue doing that for us.”
The absence of both Slocombe and Severn have paved the way for youth team goalkeeper Pat Weaver to land a place on the substitute’s bench and United’s club captain has been pleased to see the youngster integrate so well with the squad during his time with the pros.
He added: “It’s a great experience for him. He’s spoken with me a couple of times and he’s a little bit concerned that he’s not playing games for the youth team but what I’ve made him aware of is the fact that Russ trusts him enough to involve him with the first team squad.
“He’s such a good character and you see a lot of young lads come into the first team and find it difficult to integrate with the group because it is a very nervous time but Pat takes that all in his stride.
“He just needs to make sure that this isn’t the beginning and the end of it.
“He needs to continue training as hard as he does and his aim now should be to get the opportunity to join the first team for next season and if Russ is happy with having him on the bench then he’s put himself in a good position.”