Shrewsbury Town injury latest: Defender set to miss out at Fleetwood

Josh Ruffels is likely to miss Shrewsbury Town’s trip to Fleetwood Town after jarring his knee at Rochdale.

The defender was withdrawn on the cusp of half-time on Tuesday night after sustaining the injury, with boss Gavin Cowan confirming he had since undergone an assessment.

Ruffels is not expected to be sidelined for long, but Cowan admitted the 32-year-old is more than likely to miss Saturday’s trip to Highbury Stadium.

He said: “He’ll probably miss out tomorrow, we’re not sure yet. He’s still doing a little bit of treatment, but it’s not going to be anything long-standing.

“I would have hoped that he would have got through to tomorrow, but we’re just doing a little bit of assessment now.”

Sam Stubbs has also missed Town’s last three games after suffering a concussion against Barnet.

The defender has since returned to the pitch and been involved in training, but Cowan is still waiting for further medical guidance before determining when Stubbs can return to contention.

He added: “It’s a concussion thing so we have to be really careful. I’m just waiting on the details from all of the medical staff so I’ll know when he is back in contention.”

Meanwhile, Jack Price remains sidelined for a lengthy period with a hamstring injury in what has been a frustrating start to his return to Shrewsbury.

The experienced midfielder is, however, continuing to play an active role around the squad and has asked to travel with the team to Fleetwood this weekend.

“He’s recovering well, it is just a time thing,” Cowan said about the experienced midfielder.

“It’s such a strange injury, it’s a hamstring thing that is on the inside but around the back. I’ve had it myself before and it’s one of the most frustrating injuries you can get.

“He’s so connected to the group. He’ll be travelling with us this weekend at his request. We’d normally give him a weekend…it’s a hard place to be when you’re injured, when you’re watching the lads go out and do the thing that you love.

“But at his request, he wants to be in the group, wants to be a part of it, and he wants to help us achieve.

“It’s difficult to be in the position that he’s in, especially with such an obscure injury.”

Otherwise, Cowan expects Town to travel to Fleetwood with no fresh injury concerns as they look to respond to their 3-0 defeat at Rochdale in midweek.

“It’s great to have all of the lads on board and all of the lads fresh and healthy,” he added.

“They’ve had a couple of down days and they’ll be working really hard this morning in preparation for travel this afternoon as we’ll be staying over.”