Home
Wanderers have allayed fears of serious injuries to Andy Lonergan and Tim Ream – but will be without both players for tomorrow night’s trip to Middlesbrough.
Neil Lennon’s injury problems worsened on Saturday in a 4-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest as two of his senior stars were stretchered off the pitch.
Ream aggravated a back injury in a collision with the post and required a scan – but it is hoped the American defender could be back in action by the weekend, when the Whites host Brighton.
Lonergan was taken immediately to hospital for a CT scan after colliding with Forest striker Dexter Blackstock in the second half but was discharged with concussion.
Lennon confirmed after the game the 31-year-old is expected to miss the next fortnight, leaving Manchester United loanee Ben Amos as the only senior keeper at his disposal.
Skipper Matt Mills was also sent off at the City Ground, meaning he will be suspended against Boro, while Filip Twardzik has also been added to the injury list with a back strain which forced him off at half time.
That means Lennon will have to make at least four changes for the Boro game – including both the full-backs who started against Forest.
The Wanderers boss experimented with Ream on the right side of defence, trying to stifle the pace of Forest winger Michail Antonio, and brought Twardzik in for his first start at left-back.
He later admitted neither option went according to plan.
“What are our options at right-back?” he reasoned.
“Josh Vela has done okay but struggled last week against Watford.
"Antionio is right-footed, so we thought Tim would handle that with his pace.
“We thought Filip was ready to play but he looked nervy. In hindsight maybe he wasn’t.
“But then again we bring Dean Moxey on and he costs us a goal too. It isn’t just the younger ones who are making mistakes – which maybe you expect anyway – but the senior players are not being consistent in their decision making.
“There’s nothing we can do about injuries but the players I have got need to perform better than they are doing at the minute.
“Something I don’t like has started to creep in. The players who were doing very well have suddenly started to lose confidence and they need to get that back pretty quickly.”
The result left Wanderers six points above the bottom three in 17th place.
Source
Neil Lennon’s injury problems worsened on Saturday in a 4-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest as two of his senior stars were stretchered off the pitch.
Ream aggravated a back injury in a collision with the post and required a scan – but it is hoped the American defender could be back in action by the weekend, when the Whites host Brighton.
Lonergan was taken immediately to hospital for a CT scan after colliding with Forest striker Dexter Blackstock in the second half but was discharged with concussion.
Lennon confirmed after the game the 31-year-old is expected to miss the next fortnight, leaving Manchester United loanee Ben Amos as the only senior keeper at his disposal.
Skipper Matt Mills was also sent off at the City Ground, meaning he will be suspended against Boro, while Filip Twardzik has also been added to the injury list with a back strain which forced him off at half time.
That means Lennon will have to make at least four changes for the Boro game – including both the full-backs who started against Forest.
The Wanderers boss experimented with Ream on the right side of defence, trying to stifle the pace of Forest winger Michail Antonio, and brought Twardzik in for his first start at left-back.
He later admitted neither option went according to plan.
“What are our options at right-back?” he reasoned.
“Josh Vela has done okay but struggled last week against Watford.
"Antionio is right-footed, so we thought Tim would handle that with his pace.
“We thought Filip was ready to play but he looked nervy. In hindsight maybe he wasn’t.
“But then again we bring Dean Moxey on and he costs us a goal too. It isn’t just the younger ones who are making mistakes – which maybe you expect anyway – but the senior players are not being consistent in their decision making.
“There’s nothing we can do about injuries but the players I have got need to perform better than they are doing at the minute.
“Something I don’t like has started to creep in. The players who were doing very well have suddenly started to lose confidence and they need to get that back pretty quickly.”
The result left Wanderers six points above the bottom three in 17th place.
Source