Tommy Backwell has suffered a hamstring injury just days after completing his permanent Bristol City exit, with Cheltenham Town boss Michael Flynn admitting the midfielder’s issue “doesn’t look great”.
Backwell, a product of the City academy, left Ashton Gate initially on loan during the January transfer window, heading up the M5 to join Cheltenham for the second half of the season. After an impressive start at the EV Charging Points Stadium, the League Two club opted to make the 21-year-old’s move permanent on transfer deadline day.
In his first appearance since his permanent transfer was confirmed, the former Robin was forced off after just 54 minutes as Flynn’s side were beaten 3-2 by Peterborough United in the Football League Trophy quarter-finals. While the exact severity of the midfielder’s issue is unclear, the Cheltenham boss didn’t seem particularly hopeful that it would be a minor injury.
“That’s a disappointing thing tonight. It doesn’t look great if I am honest,” Flynn told our sister publication Gloucestershire Live. “It’s a hamstring. We won’t know until maybe after the weekend how severe that is. It was tough for him.
“It’s hard when you are not used to playing with the intensity of how we want to play, with the pressing game and I am gutted for him.”
Away from Cheltenham Town, Omar Taylor-Clarke and Ephraim Yeboah both made their full debuts for Dunfermline Athletic, having completed late moves to the Scottish Championship side in the final days of the winter transfer window.
The Pars crashed out of the SPFL Trust Trophy with a 2-0 semi-final defeat to Livingston. Taylor-Clarke, who left Ashton Gate permanently this winter, was withdrawn early in the second half while Yeboah, who only departed the West Country on loan, played the full 90 minutes.
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Although Dunfermline boss Michael Tidser felt the City loanee should have scored when he spurned a one-on-one chance in the second half, he was encouraged by what he saw from the 18-year-old in his first start north of the border.
“We worked it well and managed to get him down the sides. He goes 1v1. He’s probably just got to open his body up more,” explained Tidser post-match. “He’s a young kid, trying to learn his trade. You get mistakes, if he was the finished article, he wouldn’t be at Dunfermline Football Club.
“We’ll keep working with him because you can see he’s a bright spark and tries to get on the end of things. [He] was full of energy and endeavour.”