Striker Ryan Edmondson took one heck of a tumble with around 20 minutes of the game left to play at Northampton on Tuesday night, and the temporary sling put in place by physio Ross Goodwin proved to be needed when it was confirmed after full time that he’d suffered a full dislocation.
“It was a dislocated shoulder but credit to the doctor here at Northampton, he’s popped it back in for him,” manager Paul Simpson explained. “He’s going to have to go and get a scan or an x-ray, then he’ll probably have to go and see a consultant, so we’ll see what comes from that.
“It’s the first time he’s done it, I don’t know where it goes medically now, but I do know it’s not very good for him. We just have to wait and see.
“Look, it’s a massive blow for Ryan, and for us as well. I think he’s just starting to find his feet and look a real threat. That’s a blow to him and we’ll probably be missing him for a while.
“We don’t know that for certain, but I’d be gobsmacked if he’s back in the short-term because we’re talking about a dislocation.
“Sometimes they choose to do surgery to pin it, other times they don’t. I don’t know at this moment what’s going to happen, but I’m gutted for him.
“I’m disappointed for me, but that’s being selfish. I’m more disappointed for Ryan, because he’s just starting to show what a big threat he can be. We’ve just got to deal with it, I suppose.”
Already missing from the midweek team sheet was Jon Mellish, who was nursing a troublesome knee.
“He’s got bone bruising and a couple of grade one sprains to ligaments around the front and the back of the knee,” the manager explained. “It’s settling down, the swelling has started to go, and we’ll start loading him up probably tomorrow [Wednesday], I hope.
“We’re hoping it’s short-term. Whether Boxing Day’s going to be too early for him, we have to wait and see. We thought he was ok, he trained, it started to swell up, it got worse.
“If the swelling stays away we’re hoping we can build him up over the next however many days until Boxing Day, and he might be fit, but maybe it’ll be too early, we’re just going to have to wait and see.”
“We’re loading up Omari Patrick and trying to get him up to a good speed, and Ben Barclay’s swelling has gone down on his ankle, so he’s doing more,” he continued.
“Dev will get fitter and stronger, as will Joel over time. It’s maybe a little bit early for putting Joel in there, but needs must because of the situation we’re in. We’ll see, we’ll keep working them all and see how they go.
“We’re starting to look like we could get players fit but it’s back to being a couple of steps backwards, especially with what’s happened to Edmo.
“I really thought he looked a real handful, particularly early in the first half, so I’m really disappointed for him just as he’s starting to find his feet and get comfortable in the club, then he goes and picks this up. It’s horrible for him.”
Speaking more about the return of Joel Senior, he said: “He’s certainly ready to be involved because he’s had a good few weeks of full-time training.
“He’s had a couple of games, if I’m honest it’s probably too early to throw him into it but he’s able to hold his own in training, and tonight was a situation of needs must because we had no other defenders available, with Jon Mellish being out.
“He was ready to be involved and was well chuffed to be involved as well. So, we keep working him, and he may just have to get fit being involved in first team games because we have no other games coming up.”