Midfield injury headache for Rotherham United
Two players in the treatment room
Rotherham United have been hit by a double injury issue in midfield as they gear up for their clash with League Two leaders Bristol Rovers this weekend.
The Millers were already resigned to being without new boy Jamie Jellis whose calf problem has turned out to be more serious than anticipated.
They are also likely to be without Kian Spence who picked up a calf complaint of his own in Tuesday night's 2-2 draw at Tranmere Rovers.
The duo have been in top form and the potential absence of both is a real blow as Rotherham seek to extend their unbeaten run to four matches on Saturday at the Memorial Ground.
Jellis's time on the sidelines is already at two matches and will stretch further into this month.
"There was just a little bit more to his injury than what we first thought," said boss Alex Bruce. "We thought originally it would be a seven to 10 days. But where it the problem is, at the bottom of the calf, you have to be quite careful with it. It's as simple as that.
"He's still feeling it a little bit, so we're kind of monitoring day by day. It's an area where you can't really rush it, so we just have to go with how he feels, basically."
Spence will be assessed tomorrow and the Millers are braced for the verdict that he won't feature against Rovers who have won their last three matches to sit in pole position.
The Millers are in 13th spot following a victory and two draws
"We think Kian might be struggling," Bruce said.
Wide man Marvin Kaleta will miss out with hamstring damage and young centre-half Harrison Duncan remains sidelined with a hamstring issue.
"Apart from that, it's a clean bill of health," Bruce said.
The head coach has to decide whether to include the two loan attackers signed on Tuesday's deadline day - Huddersfield Town's George Sebine and Peterborough United's Klaidi Lolos - in his matchday 18.