Michael Ihiekwe and Viktor Johansson injury worries and Rotherham United manager on the "leg-breaking straight-legger" that left Jamie Lindsay on the deck

Michael IhiekweMichael Ihiekwe
Michael Ihiekwe

ROTHERHAM United are sweating on the fitness of two key men ahead of League One opening day a week tomorrow.

Centre-half Michael Ihiekwe and goalkeeper Viktor Johansson both face scans on quad injuries that will decide their fate.

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Ihiekwe, who missed tonight's 1-0 friendly home defeat against Middlesbrough, could be sidelined for up to six weeks if the test result goes against him.

Johansson limped off after ten minutes of the match and his issue appears to be less serious. The Millers are already without back-up keeper Josh Vickers for a month as he also has a quad problem.

"Icky pulled his quad yesterday in training," said manager Paul Warne. "He's had a scan and the pull is a grade 2B. But it's got a lot of fluid in it and the actual damage to his muscle is pretty minimal.

"We're going to re-scan him on Wednesday and if the fluid is out of it he might be able to train on Thursday.

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"I know that sounds a bit crazy but the scale is based on the fluidity. The actual fibre damage isn't that great. If we can get the fluid out and get things dry he should be all right for next Saturday.

"However, if we can't get the fluid out and it isn't dry he could potentially be out for four, five, six weeks."

The Millers took off Johansson as a precaution after he'd complained of tightness during the warm-up.

"He said he'd be okay, but he's never had a muscle injury before, bless him," Warne said. "He doesn't know what day it is in that respect.

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"The first time he kicked the ball you could see he was uncomfortable. Hopefully it'll settle down and he will be okay for next weekend. He'll have a scan on Monday to see how extensive the damage is."

Meanwhile, Warne revealed that Jamie Lindsay feared he'd suffered a serious injury as he lay on the AESSEAL New York Stadium turf after being caught by a bad first-half challenge from Boro's Johnny Howson.

"Initially, he was quite upset on the pitch," the boss said. "He thought he'd broken his leg. He had nerve pain.

"If you see the mark down his shin ... hence why we got a bit irate at the side of the pitch. It was a leg-breaking straight-legger.

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"I never moan about the opposition's aggressiveness but it did look a bad one and I did fear the worst for Jamie."

Lindsay was able to continue playing after treatment but was substituted at the interval.

"He's been excellent in pre-season," Warne added. "To miss him would be a massive blow. He played on. I didn't think he would. Luckily, Jamie is fine."