Shrewsbury Town striker to undergo surgery with likely timeframe given as boss backs frontmen
Shrewsbury Town striker Bradley Ihionvien will undergo knee surgery on Friday which will likely rule him out for four to six months.
On-loan Peterborough striker Ihionvien, 21, injured his meniscus in training last week and will go under the knife with a lengthy absence the expected outcome.
Boss Michael Appleton, whose side have enjoyed an improved run of form with two wins in an unbeaten run of three, said on Friday morning the best-case scenario was a two-month lay-off, but that a lengthier spell on the sidelines was more likely.
"He's having an operation today," Appleton said. "There's two ways the operation could go in terms of timelines, the absolute best we can even dream of getting is maybe eight weeks.
"But the more likely scenario is it could potentially be four to six months. We'll know more once he comes out of surgery."
Ihionvien enjoyed a prolific start to life at Shrewsbury with two goals in his first two games but struggled in subsequent games and last featured in the home defeat to MK Dons on September 27, where he was replaced at half-time.
Head coach Appleton has since used captain John Marquis and George Lloyd, who opened his account for the season in the win over Cambridge, to lead the line. Town, 21st in League Two, go to Oldham on Saturday.
Appleton added: "He had an impact in the first sort of two or three games and then sort of stepped below that sort of standard a little bit. But I say that with no issues, no problems whatsoever.
"He's a brilliant kid. Players like him. There's certain parts of his game when he returns that I've spoke to him even before he got the injury that he needs to work on and needs to be better to gain the trust of everybody in the group.
"He understands that, but like I say, we just wish him really, really well."
Appleton said of his forward options: "Lloydy had earned his opportunity to get into the starting line-up. Brad was already on the bench at the time when he picked his injury up.
"John's had a little spell on the bench at the moment just to try to find his form and get back to what he's good at.
"It's between Lloydy, John and Chucks (Aneke) at this moment in time. We've got (Anthony) Scully, who is getting sharper and better all the time. I thought he was excellent again last week."
Defender Tom Anderson (calf) could return.
