Thomas facing injury lay-off
MIDFIELDER Conor Thomas is set to be sidelined until after Christmas with a torn calf muscle.
Thomas came off in the 1-1 draw with Cambridge last Tuesday and missed Saturday’s FA Cup victory over Crewe, and manager Michael Duff expctes to be without him for around eight weeks.
“He has quite a significant tear in his calf,” said Duff.
“He’ll be out for four to eight weeks, so we need to see how it settles in the first couple of weeks.
“We’ll definitely be missing him until after Christmas I’d imagine.”
The 27-year-old has made 16 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring from the penalty spot in the 2-1 win at Carlisle on November 14.
It leaves Duff with Chris Clements, Liam Sercombe, Ellis Chapman and loanees Finn Azaz and Tom Sang as his midfield options going forward. “We have good quality,” said Duff. “Clem (Chris Clements) was excellent on Saturday.
“He brings a calmness to the way we play.
“It suits him better when we play a one and a two so he is the sitter, dictating play for us.
“Tom Sang gave his strongest performance coming off the bench and really affected the game.
“He has really good energy, but he also showed the quality he has as well.
“Sangy has almost been trying too hard.
“We’ve had a couple of conversations with him and you can almost run too much.
“He was excellent for the goal. He could have scored and he landed on things.
“Finn Azaz put in a strong performance and Sercs (Liam Sercombe) is Sercs.
“We have Ellis Chapman as well, so that’s the pleasing thing.
“We made five changes on Saturday and all five that came into the team said if I am needed, I am ready, which is exactly what you want.
“You start with the two goalkeepers. Tough decisions, but good ones to have to make.
“You’d always rather have the decision to make and it be on that, rather than having 11 players you have to pick.
“That’s not the case and we can make changes during the game and affect it.
“We can change the way we set up and players have shown they are ready.”