Manager Paul Simpson provided an injury update ahead of Saturday’s trip to Blackpool.
“Jack Ellis has joined in with the group today, but that’s his first day back so it will be too early for him on Saturday,” he said. “We’ve had to make sure we’ve got all of the work done properly because there’s been far too many occasions in my time back here where we’ve had players who have come back too early and broken down.
“We’ve had to readdress that, and we’ve looked at that in terms of the coaching staff, medical staff and performance staff. We’ve tried to come up with a better solution and we feel as though we’re there now. We’ve got a Central League Cup game against Barrow next week which we’re hoping he’ll be able to play 45 minutes in and we’ll see how he comes through that.”
“Hunts and Taylor are still doing their work but they’re still a week or so away from joining in,” he continued. “JJ Kayode is on the grass and he’s doing his work to build himself up. He’s going to see the specialist again next week so we can get an idea of what the next stage of his recovery is.
“Callum is due to have his operation next week and he’s done all of the work to mean that can go ahead as planned. The surgery will then really be the start of his nine-month recovery which will seem a long way off for him. He’s been coming in for a couple of days a week to make sure he’s still going along the right lines. He’ll go in for that next week then it’s a case of us looking after him.”
“Joe Garner obviously came off in the game at Reading and had some stitches just below his knee but he’s fine now and he’s joined in training with everybody else,” he continued.
“It was last Tuesday when he did it, he was off his feet until the following Monday, but he’s done all of the physical load. He hadn’t joined in with the group but he’s worked with the rehab group, so he’s done all of the distances and the high intensity work and the sprinting that he needed. He got back into the football work on Tuesday, and he’s joined in full training today with us. Everybody who knows Joe Garner knows he isn’t going be kept out by a few stitches in his shin.
“Terry and Jokull are still here, they’re doing their rehab with us. Fin is back at Forest. I believe he’s back on the grass at Forest, so we’re waiting to find out. He’s got to be rescanned to see where it’s at in the next week or so, but we’re still looking at the end of January or the beginning of February for him to return. Jokull’s feeling good at the moment, that may be end of January, and Terry we’re slowly going with that one because there’s not a lot we can do about it.”
“I made a mistake last week when I said Jack Armer was suspended for this game,” he told us. “I don’t really know what confused me about it, I think it was because he got the yellow cards at Cambridge which then turned into a red. Anyway, thankfully he isn’t suspended, and he is available for the Blackpool game.
“We’re still struggling for a squad, we’ve got 16 outfield players available with two goalkeepers to make it up to the 18 so we’re going with the minimum number, but it’s still up to us to go and put on a performance to do ourselves justice.”