Matt Hamshaw on having only one goalkeeper in his Rotherham United matchday squad

Summer signing Ted Cann has been out of action with concussion after a ball hit him in the face in training earlier this month and may not have recovered in time to take his place on the bench for tomorrow's League One clash at Northampton Town.

Hamshaw has nominated an unnamed player to take over in goal if number one Cameron Dawson suffers an injury during the match but is confident that it won't come to that.

“I've not really thought about it, if I'm going to be honest,” he said when asked if the lack of matchday keeper cover was a concern to him.

“Look, this could come back to bite me on the backside, but you very rarely see it (a goalkeeper going off), do you?

“You see managers sometimes just leave a goalie off the bench anyway. Neil Warnock used to do it quite a lot with Sheffield United and put (midfielder/centre-half) Phil Jagielka in the net.

“We have a plan, I'm not going to let you know what that plan is. Look, would I like a goalkeeper on the bench? Obviously I would, yeah. But, at the same time, it is what it is.”

Cann has missed games against Bradford City and Oldham Athletic while he undergoes concussion protocols and won't be available until he has ticked every box.

“I don't know if he'll be back for Saturday,” Hamshaw said. “It's a daily thing. He has to meet certain criteria, answer certain questions.

“A lot of it isn't football-related. It's sitting with the doctor, going through questions. The players do the questions when they're first signed. It's seeing what their recollection of them is.”

Hamshaw is a supporter of the testing procedure that requires a medical expert to clear a player for selection.

“We are in the hands of the doctor and the concussion protocols,” he said. “The protocols are a good thing for the game. Players' individual health and welfare comes before anything, so it's important that we have guidance and rules.

“Ted was in a bit of a bad way with it. He literally didn't know where he was, what day it was and who we were playing next. We'll wait and see what the doctor says.”

Cann, aged 24, has yet to make his league debut for the Millers but would have been given a second outing in the Vertu Trophy, against Oldham on Tuesday, had he been ready.

Meanwhile, Hamshaw has met with Hamish Douglas and Kane Richardson after the young duo were substituted at half-time as they made their first senior starts in the 3-2 triumph over Athletic.

Rotherham were 2-0 down at the time of the changes and neither player had shown their true potential.

“I've spoken to them both, and it's something they've got to learn from,” the boss said. “It's not easy playing professional football, otherwise everybody would do it.

“They're good kids, they've got the right attitude towards it. Unfortunately it was almost like the harder they tried, the worse it got. They know when and where it went wrong, they know why it went wrong.”