United manager Russ Wilcox has provided a midweek update of the injuries picked up in the goalless encounter over Wycombe Wanderers.
Marcus Williams was the first withdrawn from the side in the early stages of the second half, with him soon followed by midfielder Sean McAllister. Gary McSheffrey was the third to make way, but with the Iron already using their maximum allocation of substitutions, the team were forced to play out the remainder of the game with ten men.Following the game in his post-match press conference, the Scunthorpe boss expected the trio to all be doubts for the weekend’s game at Torquay United. He followed that statement up on Tuesday, giving more analysis on the players.
“Marcus is going to be fine,” Wilcox began, talking to The Iron Player.
“He will miss a couple of days and will hopefully be back on the training ground on Thursday, so he should be fine (for the weekend).”
“McSheffrey has got a scan today (Tuesday) on his hamstring. We’re not really expecting good news with that one. You never know, you just hope and we’ve got our fingers cross on that one.”
“Sean is very sore in his rib area. Again, we are waiting news regarding him. Knowing Sean, as I do, from not only here, but his Sheffield Wednesday days – he is hard as nails. It wouldn’t surprise me (if he was available), but you’ve got to say he is a doubt for the weekend.”
Immediately following the game against Wycombe, all three were poised to be major doubts to travel to Devon, yet that news will give some United fans hope that the injuries are not as bad as first feared.
“At this moment in time, I’d say Marcus is the only likely to be involved at the weekend,” he continued.
“But in a couple of days, it’s hard to say. Marcus should definitely be a starter for Saturday, which is great news. He’s been outstanding since he’s come back to the football club.”
He added: “I went away from Saturday’s game feeling – not down – but thinking about how three injuries in a game is a lot to swallow.”
Absence from the squad means that Wilcox may be forced into recalling some of the players currently out on loan. For the moment though, he will take no action until the full extent of the injuries are known.
“At the moment we are (holding back),” said the Scunthorpe boss.
“I’m going to have a few conversations on that topic this afternoon – so I don’t want to go to press with that too early. I’ve got to have a conversation with the people involved first, so on Thursday, we will know a bit more regarding which way we go with that.”
He added: “It gives the players another couple of days to see where they are at, but we will probably make that decision in the next 24 hours.”