The Iron have been dealt a double injury blow following injuries to goalkeepers James Severn and Sam Slocombe.
Slocombe injured his shoulder in the Capital One Cup win at Blackburn and Severn played against Preston in his absence on Saturday before missing the home loss to Fleetwood with a thigh problem.Peterborough keeper Bobby Olejnik joined on a three-month loan deal just hours before kick-off to make his debut in the 2-0 loss.
“James Severn’s going to be out for six to eight weeks with a thigh strain,” manager Russ Wilcox told The Iron Player.
“Sam Slocombe is going to see a specialist with his shoulder problem and it’s not looking too good, considering both of them didn’t miss a training session last season.
“Sam played every game and James was available for all of them, so it’s a difficult period, we have to get through it.
“I don’t think Sam’s will be short-term, I’ll be honest. He’s got discomfort and hopefully we get good news from the specialist as all we seem to be getting at the moment is bad news. He’ll be a big loss, we saw how important he was last season with 20 clean sheets.”
With the casualties list extending, stand-in captain Neal Bishop was added to that after he limped off the pitch in agony in the second-half.
Talking of Bishop’s problem, Wilcox confirmed: “It is is a contact injury, he’ll be touch and go on Saturday. He has a cut above his knee and it’s pleasing it’s a contact injury rather than ligaments. It’s swelling so he’ll be a doubt and it’s another one off the list.”
Three new faces have arrived through the doors at Glanford Park this week, in a bid to freshen up the squad and cover for injuries. Forward Billy Kee arrived from Burton, making a substitute cameo for his debut, Bobby Olejnik played 90 minutes between the sticks while Burnley right-back Luke O’Neill delivered a man of the match performance.
“The chairman’s backed us again by helping to bring quality in,” Wilcox added.
“Luke O’Neill had an outstanding debut, he looks a good player and he showed what he is about.
“It’s been difficult for Billy because he’s only been here a few days and it’s just about getting the new lads familiar with the other lads’ game and Luke (O’Neill) joined two days ago and Bobby arrived at 5 o’clock before the match so it’s just about getting everyone working together.”
The Iron travel to Yeovil at the weekend, as they look to make amends and get some points on the board for the new Sky Bet League One season. Wilcox is keen to put in the hard work to put things right after an improved performance from the 4-0 loss to Simon Grayson’s Preston.
“We’ll go in on Thursday, work hard on the training ground and give it our best shot at Yeovil," he stated.
“It’s just not happening for us at the moment in both boxes.
“Niall Canavan’s effort near the end of the match should have gone in if I’m being critical and if he scored that, the last six or seven minutes would have been interesting and Miles Addison would have been put up front too.
“There were a couple of half chances we should have done better with and that’s how it is at the moment.”
See much more from Russ Wilcox, and others, on The Iron Player.