'Pretty innocuous' - Shrewsbury striker Joe Gbode's absence explained

Gavin Cowan has confirmed that Shrewsbury Town striker Joe Gbode has missed the past two games due to injury.

Shrewsbury have registered back-to-back wins over Crawley Town and Bristol Rovers respectively in League Two, but Gbode has not featured in the match day squad in either of them.

Cowan revealed that Gbode sustained the injury during training on Friday last week, but did not disclose a timeframe in terms of his potential return.

“It’s an injury - pretty innocuous,” the Shrewsbury boss said.

“Trained with us on Friday and we just said that he wasn’t going to be right.

“So he just hasn’t been in the squad for the past couple of games.”

Gbode has started just once for Shrewsbury in the league since joining on loan from League One side Luton Town in the summer.

In addition, the 21-year-old played only a combined 10 minutes from the bench in the five league games prior to his injury setback.

Josh Davison and George Lloyd have established themselves as the preferred pairing in attack - with the latter bagging a brace in Tuesday night’s 3-2 win at rock-bottom Crawley Town.

Davison was also named in the League Two team of the week following his two-goal haul, which extended his season tally to four across all competitions.

Lloyd also followed up his match-winner from the spot against Bristol Rovers on the weekend with his fourth goal of the season at the Broadfield Stadium.

Cowan opted not to make any substitutions in midweek, as 16-year-old Hugo Aiston stepped up on to the bench in the wake of Isaac Fletcher’s suspension.

Academy graduate Aiston made his league debut with a late cameo at Tranmere Rovers on the opening day and has also featured twice in the EFL Trophy this term.