Aaron Morley has been ruled out of the remainder of Wanderers’ season as he joins the Whites’ lengthy injury list, writes Pete Oliver.
Head coach Steven Schumacher confirmed the ankle injury suffered by Morley in last Saturday’s defeat at Barnsley has ended the midfielder’s eventful season and will mean no reunion with promotion-chasing Wycombe Wanderers on Friday.
The 25-year-old spent the first half of the season on loan with Wycombe – finishing on the losing side just once in 19 league games – before returning to Wanderers to kick-start an impressive run of performances back in a Whites’ shirt.
“He's got some ankle ligament damage and he's now going to be sent to a specialist to determine what way to go next. But he's going to be out for the rest of the season,” said Schumacher, who had made Morley one of his leading picks since taking charge at the end of January.
“We hope it doesn't affect his pre-season coming back, but we're just not sure yet. It’s a big blow for us because he's been a really good player. It has been a good season (for him). He's scored some good goals, he's played well for Wycombe and he's come back and shown everybody again how good a player he is here.
“We've really enjoyed working with him and he's a really good character. He's still at a really good age as well and experienced for his age. It's a setback for him as an injury, but he'll come back stronger and the rest of the injury list is looking extensive as well.
“It's been a tough week, but that's what happens. It's football, it's that time of the season and you have to make sure that you can cope with these setbacks.”
The enforced absence of Morley is the latest in a number of injury problems to hit the Whites during the run-in, with striker Victor Adeboyejo and defender Will Forrester already seeing their seasons prematurely curtailed.
Defender Ricardo Almeida Santos started his first game in almost three months at Barnsley, while defensive colleague Eoin Toal has only been able to feature nine times this year.
The Northern Ireland international is close to returning from a hamstring injury but won’t be ready for the Easter weekend, while Szabi Schön is also targeting the trip to Peterborough on Saturday-week for a possible comeback.
Josh Sheehan has also been ruled out of the Easter games against Wycombe and then at Lincoln City next Monday with a thigh problem that forced him off in the 4-1 loss at Oakwell, while Jordi Osei-Tutu failed to complete that game and will need a late check to see whether he has any chance of facing high-flying Wycombe.
The Whites are more hopeful on the prospects of Alex Murphy shaking off a knock to figure on Good Friday and even though Carlos Mendes Gomes pulled out of training on Thursday with a fresh injury concern to take the list of potential absentees to nine ahead of a make-or-break few days, Schumacher insists no-one is throwing in the towel with the top six still just three points – and a few goals – away.
“This is what happens at this stage of the season when you pick up injuries. You need somebody else to step up and perform so we definitely haven't given up,” added Schumacher, who could add midfielders Jay Matete and Kyle Dempsey to the mix after lively substitute appearances at Barnsley.
“Chris Forino actually said it in our meeting the other day: we're still in it. When we spoke about Barnsley and that performance we said, what do you think? He says; ‘we're still in it’, which we are.
“We've still got a chance to achieve what we need to but to do that we have to be at it in both departments. We have to not give any mistakes away, play with intensity and compete and score when we have our chances.”