Following assessment of players injured at the weekend, manager Russ Wilcox has relayed news to the press on their outcomes.
Both Gary McSheffrey and Sean McAllister were placed as major doubts ahead of the weekend’s fixture with hamstring and rib injuries respectively, while Marcus Williams was set to train on Thursday morning.Confirmation from the United gaffer re-established there is likely to be no change from the earlier judgement.
“It’s not good news, I don’t think,” he told The Iron Player.
“That’s certainly the case for McSheffrey. He’s going to struggle now to play again this season. It is a grade two hamstring injury and that normally carries a recovery time of six to eight weeks, so I think that could be him done.
“It would be unfortunate, because he’s been a key player, certainly in the last few months of the season. His delivery and all aspects of his game will be missed.”
“Sean is a major doubt as well,” he continued.
“It’s a rib injury, so it’s difficult to put a timescale on that one. I’ve had those myself and they are sore, but knowing Sean – he is a fighter and a grafter, so hopefully he will be back to finish the job.
“We will just look at it game by game with him and see where he is at to be honest. Healing-wise, it is a strange area for a footballer. One week it can be really painful and the next, it could have improved massively. That will be down to Sean and how quickly he heals.
“We’ve given him a few days off now as there is not a lot he can do at the minute, considering where the injury is. It’s difficult to work on it, but also it’s difficult to do any functional work. We’ve got to make sure his breathing is right first.”
He added: “It’s disappointing news.”
Despite that, Wilcox still expects Marcus Williams to be available for the weekend’s trip following his return to full training on Thursday. The left-sided player was withdrawn in the second half of last week’s draw against Wycombe but, after a few days off, he is in line to continue in the starting line-up.
“Marcus is fine now,” said Wilcox.
“He’s trained fully today. That is a shining light out of the three of them, which is a big bonus. He’s been outstanding since he came back to the football club and it obviously gives me that option of pushing him one place further up, if I wanted to do that.”
He added: “It’s very pleasing he’s okay.”
See much more from Russ Wilcox and Michael Collins on The Iron Player.