Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton has confirmed midfielder Sam Finley could be out for up to two weeks, while left-back Trevor Clake is facing a two-month lay-off after a “bizarre” double injury at training.
Finley and Clarke weren’t included in the matchday 18 against Port Vale having both started against Bolton Wanderers in the previous League One fixture, after a tackle during a game at The Quarters which aggravated pre-existing problems.
Barton described the incident last week, which has left Finley with a calf problem while Clarke will undergo scans this week on his thigh and groin which the manager anticipates could be worse than a grade 2 tear.
The former, who has been arguably Rovers' most consistent performer this season, will definitely miss Tuesday’s visit of MK Dons in the Papa John’s Trophy and Saturday’s trip to Charlton Athletic but could be back for the Boxing Day clash against Wycombe Wanderers, whereas Clarke won’t play again until February next year.
“They both trained on Tuesday and both impacted in the same challenge,” Barton said. “Trev’s gone to clear the ball and Sam’s just tried to nip it off the backside of him and they’ve both had a clash in terms of knee to knee.
“It looked quite bad. Trev - it’s a couple of months and Sam, with his calf - probably 10 days or two weeks. But it wasn’t to do with that challenge, it’s the most bizarre thing. They’ve both had a clash and it’s aggravated something else that they’ve had, you'd think it was because of the challenge but it wasn't. It's bizarre.
“It’s a blow to lose two starters and I’m gutted for Trev; just got back in the team, trying to establish himself in our group again and unfortunately he’s had another injury setback, so gutted for the lad.”
Barton’s squad options were also further depleted by the absences of striker Ryan Loft and winger Harry Anderson. Loft has been recovering from a hamstring injury and was earmarked to be involved against Vale but then fell ill and has since suffered with muscle spasms.
Anderson, who hasn’t played since late October, has also been hit by the “dreaded lurgy” but the 25-year-old was seen undertaking fitness drills before Saturday’s game alongside Luca Hoole and, theoretically, could be involved against MK Dons.
“Considering we had a couple of players out I’m really pleased with the squad effort and when those reinforcements come back it’ll give us that depth and we can kick on from there,” Barton added.
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