Bristol Rovers are still waiting for an exact timescale on how long Michael Forbes will be sidelined for but it appears as though the West Ham United loanee has suffered a hamstring injury.
The young centre-back had to be withdrawn just 22 minutes into the Gas’ 1-1 draw at home to Wrexham on Saturday afternoon having earned back-to-back starts in League One for the first time. Forbes went down off the ball and immediately held his leg, suggesting it was likely some sort of muscle tweak.
It appears as though the 20-year-old will now be out for a period of time but how long is yet to be determined as the Northern Irishman awaits a scan.
“He felt his hamstring, it is a bit sore, still sore today,” interim manager Dave Horseman revealed on Monday afternoon. “So he’s got a scan tonight. Hopefully by tomorrow morning we’ll have a good idea of the severity of the hamstring injury.”
Elsewhere, there’s better news with Lino Sousa now back in contention after over two months out with a hamstring injury while Jack Hunt is back on the grass running.
Hunt won’t make the Exeter game in a playing capacity but is expected to be in the dugout once again after stepping in to assist the short-staffed coaching team.
With Lee Cattermole understood to have left the club while Rovers parted company with assistant manager Wayne Carlisle as well as Matt Taylor last week, Horseman and head of goalkeeping Scott Brown are the only coaches currently at the club.
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“It’s felt a really busy time because obviously during the week, Hunty needs to get himself fit,” Horseman declared. “He’s back on the grass running now.
“On Saturday I was immensely grateful for, not just him, but all the staff. They really dug in because it was only me. The fans that were there early knew I had a couple of interviews, set the warm up up, lead the warm up, do the team sheets, deliver the team message, then go out. Now obviously once you get to the bench, you need a sounding board. There’s a lot and there’s also a lot of pressure.
“Obviously you’re desperate to win and you have a plan but you need the sounding board and people that understand football and Scott Brown and Jack Hunt have got probably close to a thousand games, I would imagine.
“So to have that support, that knowledge on the bench, I thought they were both really, really good, really useful and they were as much to do with the draw as anybody else.
“Lino did his first full training session today,” the interim boss added. “So officially signed off. He’s back and available. Now whether this game comes a little bit quick for him, but officially back training with the squad and available for minutes if selected.”