A Rotherham United player may require more surgery, and Matt Hamshaw knows that social media won't be kind

The striker has been plagued by injuries for more than three seasons and some supporters haven't been slow in posting cutting opinions on platforms like X and Facebook.

Hamshaw admits that most of his concentration has to be on available players as he seeks to guide his team up the League One table, but he says that Kayode's well-being is also a big concern for him.

“Everybody just focuses on the first team, which is right, by the way,” he said. “You don't really think about those lads who aren't around the squad. The manager doesn't anyway. That sounds horrific, yet that's the brutal truth of it. You focus on what you've got in front of you.

“But, at the same time, you have to make sure that the player is all right – and especially in today's world where there's a lot of things that people read on social media and there's a lot of stuff that impacts young people.

“It's hard not to take comments personally, and it makes you think sometimes – like, do you need your mum and dad reading these opinions about you that are so far off the mark?

“This is the world we live in nowadays, so just making sure that Josh's mental state is good is a priority.”

Kayode, who signed a new one-year deal in the summer, had just returned from an injury when he took a knock on a knee against Stockport County on September 20 and the 25-year-old hasn't featured since.

He headed to London last Wednesday for a date with a specialist and surgery isn't being ruled out.

“Look, we're getting to the bottom of it,” Hamshaw said. “How long that'll take, honestly I don't know. But I'm hoping that we can see light at the end of the tunnel at some point.

“Josh's going to be on a programme to try to monitor something for the next two, three weeks, and then we'll see where we are. If it's the case that everything's all right, we can crack on. If it isn't, then it could, potentially, be an operation.

“We'll just keep monitoring him and make sure his mindset's right because he's had a difficult time with it all. I think that sometimes people forget that.

“The lad doesn't want to be injured, the lad wants to play and represent this club. He's as frustrated as we all are that he's getting these issues.”

Kayode has spent a decade with Rotherham, having moved over from Ireland to join the youth set-up when he was 16.

He was a highly-regarded prospect and played 29 times in the 2021/22 League One promotion season before his problems began and his progress stalled.

The former Republic of Ireland youth international, who had knee surgery early this season, is desperate to prove himself in a Millers shirt and his latest setback has hit him hard.

Hamshaw suffered himself as a player, twice rupturing anterior cruciate knee ligaments when he was making his way with Sheffield Wednesday, and is putting an arm around the centre-forward's shoulder.

“I just feel like quite a lot of the time at the minute I'm having to pick him up – and I get why,” the boss said. “I said to him: ‘Look, Mate, I had nearly three years out with injury, so I feel your pain.’

“There are times when you question whether you should carry on. I can only speak personally – this isn't for Josh – but when I did my first cruciate, my cruciate went again the week after I joined back in training.

“I can remember ringing my wife and saying: ‘I'm packing in.’ That was because I knew how hard it had been to get back that first time, I knew how many hours you spend on your own, how you're in the gym on your own and nobody sees it.

“I've got everything crossed that we can strengthen Josh up and get him back because I know how much it means to him.”