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Stock op blow to Rovers
DONCASTER Rovers will again be without influential skipper Brian Stock in Saturday's Championship derby against Scunthorpe United at Glanford Park.
The Welsh international, who missed last weekend's 3-3 draw at home to Ipswich Town, was booked in for an exploratory ankle operation today.
"Brian got a knock on the ankle in the game at Reading and he got another kick in the West Bomwich game," said physio John Dickens last night.
"Brian has seen the surgeon but we don't know what the problem is. That is why he is having an exploratory operation.
"We won't know what's wrong with the ankle until he has a look around."
Even if the surgeon doesn't find anything serious, Stock would be likely to be sidelined until after the international break which would also rule him out of next Tuesday's home game Swansea and the South Yorkshire derby at Bramall Lane on Saturday week.
Were Stock to be out of action for any length of time, it would be a huge blow to Rovers' hopes of consolidating their Championship status in the traditionallly difficult second season following promotion.
Fortunately, Rovers' boss Sean O'Driscoll is not short of options in midifeld - though none of them guarantee the same impact as Stock.
O'Driscoll could again field a 3-5-2 formation as he did against Roy Keane's side on Saturday.
But he was critical of Rovers' performance on the day and could decide to recall such as Mark Wilson or Dean Shields.
Another option would be to give a first Championship start in Rovers' colours to Quinton Fortune - the man who rescued a point against the Tractor Boys with a late equalizer.
Better news for O'Driscoll, who lost the services of Ritchie Wellens - who formed arguably the best midfield partnership in the Championship with Stock last season - is that both James Hayter and James Coppinger resumed full training today.
Both players trained with members of the club's backroom staff yesterday and showed no adverse reaction.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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