Fresh setback for Josh Kayode adds to Rotherham United injury woe
A NEW injury for Josh Kayode could leave Rotherham United with only one fit senior striker for Saturday's League One clash at Mansfield Town.
The 25-year-old has picked up a knee complaint which rules him out of the trip to Field Mill and is set to force him to miss the next two matches after that as well.
The issue isn't a recurrence of the one which required surgery in the summer and saw him sidelined for the first month of the season.
“He's potentially out for around ten days, which incorporates three games," manager Matt Hamshaw said. “He's got really heavy swelling from a knock.”
Kayode suffered the blow during last Saturday's home clash against Stockport County before he was taken off not long after the interval in a planned substitution as he was making a staged return from his operation.
With Sam Nombe (hamstring) out until next month and Martin Sherif (hamstring) and Kion Etete (knee) also likely to be absent against Mansfield, the Millers have just Jordan Hugill as a fit frontman.
Kayode, who is expected to play no part in the following league match, against Bradford City, or in the Vertu Trophy game against Oldham Athletic, is due to have a medical intervention to speed up his recovery.
“He'll probably go and have an injection just to take that swelling down and then hopefully he'll be right to go again soon after that,” Hamshaw said.
"The problem we've got is, we play Saturday, Thursday, Tuesday.”
Rotherham are seeking their first away points of the campaign this weekend and will change from their usual 3-1-4-2 formation in light of the names on their casualty list.
Kayode, whose career has been blighted by a succession of injuries over the last three years, had started the Stockport match alongside Hugill as he made his third appearance since his comeback.
“We were always going to bring ‘JJ’ off early in the game because I knew he could probably get through only an hour when he's coming back from injury,” Hamshaw said.
“The fact he's got a knock on his knee is not great for either of us, to be honest. We're losing another striker. And that's one area of the pitch at this moment where we can't afford to lose people.”