Bad news for Will Swan as Mansfield Town awaits roll call on injuries ahead of big all-ticket Salford Town clash.
Following bad news about striker Will Swan, Mansfield Town will have a roll call of their walking wounded before Saturday’s big all-ticket home game against promotion rivals Salford City.
However, manager Nigel Clough admitted that only two of the nine injured players had a 50-50 chance of playing, with Swan and John-Joe O’Toole being the most recent additions to the treatment room.
“It wasn’t good news for Will Swan,” he explained. “It’s a little more serious than we originally thought.
“He had a scan and discovered that he sustained ligament damage in his ankle during training last week. We believe he will be a few weeks. It will be how it settles, and he will need to see a specialist.
“It was pure misfortune.” He was running back and stepped on Hiram. We assumed they were injured at first, but Will fared the worst.
“JJ’s foot has been in a boot for four weeks and will be for another four weeks or more. By the time you catch up, the season will be almost over, which is the best-case scenario for him.
Callum Johnson and George Maris are the only missing players who have a chance of playing on Saturday.
“Callum Johnson appears to be the only one who is making good progress and may train later this week. “He’s 50-50 on Saturday,” Clough said.
“George Maris had to be taken off the bench at Tranmere because he couldn’t warm up. We’re just seeing how he’s doing day-to-day.
“Stephen McLaughlin had an injection in his ankle, which has calmed it down. We’re hoping he’ll be able to do some work outside later this week or next, but there’s no real time frame for him.
“Louis Reed is progressing well, but he will be out for a few weeks due to Rhys Oates’ shoulder, and he is not close to returning.
“We don’t know how long James Gale will be out due to shin splints and setbacks.”
And Anthony Hartigan is making good progress with his shoulder, but it will be several weeks.”
Meanwhile, two younger Stags players, goalkeeper Owen Mason and striker Jimmy Knowles, have been loaned out to National League North Kettering Town, where Clough’s former Forest teammate and former Stags assistant manager Lee Glover is in charge.
“They have both gone out to get some football,” Clough explained.
“We’d just finished Jimmy about two hours before Will Swan was injured. There was no way to reverse it.
On Saturday, the Stags will look to extend their current run of three wins in a row and three clean sheets, but they are aware of how dangerous Salford is.
The Stags lost 2-0 there on the first day of the season, and Clough stated: “They are as good on their day as anyone – we saw that early season.
“We played fairly well, but we did not keep a clean sheet.
“That is as good an example as any this season, and it was on the first day, of why we aren’t higher up the league.
“We created numerous opportunities but failed to capitalize, resulting in two soft goals.”
We can’t afford to do that on Saturday, or for the next 15 games. Keeping clean sheets will be the foundation. We must be difficult to beat.
“Our team has undergone significant personnel changes since then. Despite our injuries, we are probably in the best place we have ever been in terms of confidence.
“The way results have gone lately gives us a determination and resolve among the squad to give it all we’ve got in the last 15
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