Injury crisis gets worse for Hatters
COUNTY boss Dave Challinor was left uncertain over the nature of a head injury to defender Kyle Knoyle in Monday’s 0-2 defeat to title rivals Mansfield Town, after a sickening collision which left the defender hospitalised.
A gruesome clash of heads between Knoyle and the unharmed Ibou Touray in the second half saw former Doncaster man Knoyle stretchered off the field and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The Hatters later confirmed Knoyle was conscious and had been talking with medical staff.
The worrying injury adds to a deepening crisis at Edgeley Park for Dave Challinor, with young centre-half Ethan Pye injured in the New Year’s Day defeat after just twenty seconds.
Pye was left in a heap after a challenge by Stags midfielder Ollie Clarke, with Challinor unhappy over his own side’s involvement in the two incidents.
“We don’t know too much at the minute. Kyle went off to hospital but was conscious – he was obviously quite confused and concussed, but we don’t know too much definitive information at the moment,” said Challinor.
“Ethan has what looks to be a high ankle sprain. He is in a protective boot and will be scanned this week.
“We know from previous experience that those sorts of injuries can really be anything in terms of the length of absence. It could be seven to ten days, but equally Will Collar with the same injury wasn’t right for around four months.
“The most disappointing thing from my perspective is that we’ve caused both of those injuries ourselves. I’ve no idea what Aki is doing from kick-off, and then Ethan tries to rectify Aki’s poor pass rather than just clearing his lines.
“We could have gone a goal down inside the first thirty seconds from that incident, and we instead lose a player through the injury.
“With Kyle’s, I’m sick of banging the drum with our players over talking, and shouting, and taking control of situations. We had the one last season where Ryan Croasdale and Will Collar didn’t communicate, and Will ends up out for four months.
“Now we end up with Kyle knocked unconscious. While I don’t know what injury he has yet, it certainly didn’t look very nice, and that’s preventable if someone shouts for the ball and takes control. Maybe the result of that incident is that our players learn a lesson over communication. To have that happen is pretty galling.”
In terms of the match itself, The Hatters turned in a rather flat performance in a largely cagey affair between the top two of League Two, and fell behind early in the second half.
George Maris headed home for Nigel Clough’s men, with County left seething after a penalty appeal was waved away at the other end just seconds earlier.
Jayden Richardson had gone down under pressure from the Mansfield backline after finding himself in on goal, only for those protests to be ignored by the officials.
“I haven’t seen the incident back, but it certainly looked very close,” said Challinor. “It doesn’t change the fact that the ball goes up the other end and we then don’t deal with the situation.
“The goals have come from two mistakes, two really bad bits of defending from us, and we have to be better than that.
“We’d spoken about how we could hurt them in an attacking sense, but we didn’t execute what we’d spoken about anywhere near enough. Their goalkeeper made a couple of good saves towards the end, but our quality just wasn’t good enough on the day.”
With an extensive and galling injury list at Edgeley Park, The Hatters now find themselves with a 12-day break from any football, as this weekend coming sees the FA Cup take centre stage.
The visit of Walsall is next up for County on Saturday 13th January, with Challinor’s men well aware that they may kick off that afternoon having surrendered top spot by that point. But for Challinor, the break is a welcome one - for more reasons than one.
“We’re definitely glad of the break. There’s a chance now to mentally reset, to take a few days away from it all and reflect,” he said.
“We won’t physically have any of the injured players back for that Walsall game, but it gives us the opportunity with the transfer window to get bodies in.
“We’re very young and inexperienced on the bench, and it’s very evident that we need not just bodies in the building, but experienced players with the knowhow and the experience of playing for a side top of the league.”
On the topic of the transfer window, Challinor confirmed the imminent departure of popular Salford City loanee Odin Bailey.
The versatile attacker signed a four-month loan deal at Edgeley Park on deadline day of the summer window, going on to be a mainstay in the league leaders’ starting eleven.
That loan deal now expires this week, although County are continuing to hold discussions with divisional counterparts Salford over a permanent deal for the former Birmingham City man.
“We’d all like Odin to stay with us, but it needs to be right for all three parties,” said Challinor.
“He can only play for us or Salford, their managerial situation may add some extra uncertainty to things as well, but ultimately if things are going to take a little longer and play out over the rest of the month, then so be it.
“We’ve been having recruitment meetings weekly since October, it’s a lot of plates spinning and also having to be react to situations like Monday with injuries and so on.
“It’s an exciting time, and we can reflect and celebrate what we’ve done so far this season but ultimately, we have to be ruthless and go about things this month in a way that will strengthen us and help us really kick on and improve.”