Confusion over the injury suffered by Rotherham United's Hamish Douglas
ROTHERHAM United are waiting to discover the length of Hamish Douglas's absence after injury forced the young defender out of their League One campaign.
The 20-year-old picked up an Achilles problem in the clash at Blackpool on December 29 that sidelined him for the New Year's Day game against Peterborough United and is set to make him a spectator for tomorrow's visit of Mansfield Town.
The Millers have received conflicting verdicts from medical experts about the severity of the centre-half's condition.
“We've had two contradicting reports,” manager Matt Hamshaw revealed. “One feared it was bad, one said that it wasn't. I'm obviously favouring the second one!”
Douglas's issue adds to Rotherham's injury woes as they seek to end a run of six consecutive League One losses when in-form Town come calling at AESSEAL New York Stadium.
They are also without Sam Nombe (hamstring), Josh Kayode (knee), Denzel Hall (unspecified) Marvin Kaleta (hamstring), Dan Gore (groin), Kian Spence (calf), Josh Benson (calf) and Reece James (hip).
On top of that, Martin Sherif has gone back to parent club Everton and another loanee, Thomas Holmes, is unlikely to feature for the Millers again before his return to Luton Town is confirmed.
The Millers are entitled to feel hard done by as Douglas sustained the Achilles damage because he had to play for longer than planned at Blackpool when fellow centre-back Jamal Baptiste was wrongly red-carded in the 58th minute - a dismissal that was later rescinded by an FA panel.
He became an important figure during the club's nine-match unbeaten streak in October and November when injuries to other players gave him his first-team chance and has made 13 appearances this term.
Speaking after the Peterborough contest about how much time the youngster will spend in the treatment room, Hamshaw said: “We'll have to wait and see on that.”