Gillingham manager Mark Bonner is continuing to juggle a number of injury issues ahead of the weekend – and he’s been in the treatment room too!
Bonner has revealed the extent of the knee injury that Frenchman Tim Dieng picked up, and how they’re thankful it’s not as bad as it first appeared.
Dieng came off injured at Fleetwood, and could be missing for another month, but Bonner said: “We had a scan (after Fleetwood) and had bad news on that but then we’ve had some follow-up appointments and the news has got better.
“We’re probably looking at about a month from now, but we thought it was much worse than that.
“He’s got a problem in his knee, which he did just before he came off. He sort of twisted it in a tackle. That was a bit of a random injury, a random moment, but unfortunate.
“The initial scan suggested it was a lot worse than we think it is. It’s been a couple of weeks. It’ll probably be another four if everything goes to plan.”
Bonner was sharing the treatment room with Conor Masterson this week – the defender still trying to get on top of an Achilles injury that has troubled him since the first week of the season.
“He’s really close,” said the manager. “He’s got a bit of a problem in this Achilles, a bit of tendinopathy. He’s found just planting his foot, running, jumping, really hard.
“Pitches were rock hard pre-season for a period, they really struggled with that.
“Some injuries you have a time frame, but on this it’s just like when the pain goes, it goes. He’s hopping now, he’s done a little bit on a treadmill.
“He’s got needles sticking out of his leg and all sorts trying to help him.
“We were on opposite beds. I got bit of sore foot myself, so I had some needles in my foot, and he had some needles in his yesterday (Wednesday). We were screaming in the physio room together, really tough guys!
“We’re looking forward to getting him on the grass properly,” Bonner continued.
“He’s not quite able to run and hop and leap and bound without pain at the moment, so his strengths getting there, but hopefully next week we can start to build him up.
“We’ll just be mindful that he hasn’t played or trained for quite a while, so it’s going to take a little bit time to get him round.”
It’s been a busy start to the season for the physio but Bonner reports that Bradley Dack, Elliott Nevitt, Ethan Coleman and Josh Andrews all came through Tuesday’s EFL Trophy game without any further issues.
Dack still may be a week or so off being fit to start but the others could be.
Bonner said: “Whether they’re from the start or later in the game, they will certainly be involved.
“We won’t be far away from having some really good players missing out on matchday squads and we’re probably starting to get there already.
“Those boys are much better for the Tuesday game for certain.”
Bonner praised the physio, adding: “He’s working harking hard and fair play to him. He’s trying to move house at the same time, so he’s double stressed!”
Aaron Rowe’s unlikely to be available at the weekend after sustaining a hamstring injury.
Bonner said: “We certainly don’t expect to see him for a little bit. We’ll just wait and see how long that is.”
Also missing on Saturday will be captain Max Ehmer (suspension) and Euan Williams (international duty). Oli Hawkins (broken wrist) and Jake Turner (ankle) are out injured.
Jacob Wakeling comes back into the reckoning after being unable to feature against parent club Peterborough United during the midweek EFL Trophy match.
