Bristol Rovers will be without Gatlin O’Donkor for the coming weeks after the striker picked up a hamstring injury in the Gas’ 4-0 defeat to Swindon Town in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy last week.
The 20-year-old was withdrawn before half-time at the County Ground with a suspected issue that has since been confirmed has a hamstring problem which will see the Oxford United loanee miss a handful of matches.
Having picked up a goal and an assist from the bench against Peterborough United and another assist against Burton Albion, O’Donkor’s impact when coming on as a substitute in recent matches has been notable, making his absence a disappointing one. However, according to Matt Taylor, the young forward won’t be out for an extensive period of time.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s trip to Huddersfield Town, the Rovers manager revealed: “It’s a number of weeks. He’s damaged his hamstring and for someone as explosive as Gats that’s not a good injury to have. We’ll certainly miss him because he’s impacted the game in a good capacity and really well from the bench.
“A bit of a blow for us in relation to that but we don’t think he’s out for a long, long period of time. We think it’ll be weeks as opposed to months.”
Elsewhere, Taylor didn’t reveal any other fresh doubts or absences ahead of Saturday’s game at the John Smith’s Stadium but in the longer term there was a positive update on the progress of both Chris Martin and Joel Senior.
The duo have both been sidelined since late August after a fibula break and serious hamstring tear respectively suffered in the 2-0 defeat at Stockport County but are on course for a November return.
Martin in particular is a player the Gas are keen to have back available after his 16 goals in League One last term while Senior has only played four games for the club across all competitions since joining on a free transfer from Morecambe in the summer.
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“Both on the grass which is always a good sign,” Taylor revealed when asked on the duo’s latest. “The moment they get out of the grass then it’s a huge step closer to reintegration to the group. They did their warm-ups and ball-related exercises without the competitive aspect. That’ll be the next thing to come and that will be in the next couple of weeks.
“As soon as they get through a couple of weeks worth of work where they’re in and out and continuing their physical progression alongside ball work then they probably need another week to 10 days worth of all-out action training and then they’ll all signed off.
“I imagine both between the three, maybe four week mark, bearing in mind that any setbacks would delay that a little bit but we’re in a good position with both of them at this moment in time.
“We hope so,” he added when asked if a November return is likely. “Both different capacity players but I think we’ve missed both of them. Chrissy in terms of the platform, the profile, the goals, his experience. Everything he added to us last season. It’s been a real slow start to the season for him with two injuries, a hamstring and then a broken fibula which isn’t a good injury at all.
“We hope that they come back fit and healthy and hungry – that’s going to be the key. They’ve both got to be hungry.”