It was bad news for Ryan Edmondson from the scan on his ankle earlier this week when it was confirmed that he has ligament damage which will now keep him out for what, at the moment, is an indefinite period.
“We’re going to be missing him for what potentially could be quite a few weeks,” manager Paul Simpson said. “Depending how it settles it could be two weeks or two months, so we’ll have to monitor him as he goes along to see how it goes.
“He’s picked up some nasty ligament damage from what was a silly little challenge, and it wasn’t even a proper push that caused it. There was minimum contact in the challenge, the defender has thrown himself to the ground, as he’s entitled to do, and as he went down he got his legs caught around Ryan’s.
“That’s where the twist came from. Sadly we’re without him for however long the recovery spell is, and we certainly won’t rush it. We want him back, but we also want to make sure he’s right.”
“At this moment in time it’s treatment only, no surgery required, because we initially need to allow the swelling to go down,” he continued. “That was bad on Saturday, but it’s definitely improved as the week has gone on.
“This weekend is definitely too early for him, but hopefully he remains pain free, as he is now, and that will mean we can increase the load in a gradual way and he can push on from there.
“He is frustrated because he had a decent start to pre-season and I thought he was looking fit and strong. He was a threat, and he was giving us a real focal point up front. Injuries can come, it’s just the way things go, so it’s up to somebody else to step in and take his place.”
Having confirmed that midfielder Callum Guy has trained with no issues this week, and is therefore available, he dropped the bombshell that Jamie Devitt is unlikely to be involved.
“Jamie picked up a groin problem, so he hasn’t been able to train this week,” he explained. “We’ll have to see if we can get him out on the grass on Friday, because I’m pleased with what he’s done so far.
“It’s just disappointing that he’s picked up another little niggle. He can’t say how it happened, but it’s there and we have to be careful with him.
“We are getting there in terms of injuries, but we seem to take one step forward and one back at the moment. We must keep calm about it and deal with whatever comes our way.”
And on the remainder of those currently receiving treatment, he told us: “I think it’s as it was last week. We’re expecting Ben Barclay to be back with us next week, he’s spent the last fortnight at Stockport, and Tobi Sho-Silva has been and done some testing.
“He’s progressing slowly, but it’s too slowly for my liking if I’m going to be honest with you. Yet again, we can’t rush it, we’ve got to be patient with him so that we avoid causing another injury to his hamstring.
“Joel Senior is on track for where we expected him to be, as are Josh Dixon and Scott Simons, and we know that Brennan Dickenson is unlikely to start for us this season.
“The good thing is that there are more options for us, which is good, and we had the game at Fleetwood on Tuesday where we had a number of the first-team group who got valuable minutes.
“Jack Stretton, Sonny Hilton, Duncan Idehen, Taylor Charters, Jack Ellis all showed a great attitude, and Gabe Breeze was impressive between the sticks. That keeps them up to speed and hopefully that keeps them involved in the group, with important match fitness in their legs.”
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