Injury concern for Chesterfield striker ahead of FA Cup tie as veteran faces potential surgery

Tom Denton has a knee problem ahead of Chesterfield's FA Cup visit to AFC Fylde on Saturday.
Tom Denton welcomed to the Proact by Drew Talbot (Pic: Tina Jenner)Tom Denton welcomed to the Proact by Drew Talbot (Pic: Tina Jenner)
Tom Denton welcomed to the Proact by Drew Talbot (Pic: Tina Jenner)

The striker suffered swelling to the joint on Sunday, the day after he opened his Spireites account against FC Halifax Town.

Martin Allen rates the targetman’s chances as 50:50 for Saturday but is content that he has a replacement lined up and ready to step into the attack.

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“It was in that game at Halifax, he doesn’t know how, we don’t know how and it puffed up on Sunday morning,” said the Town boss.

“He’ll have a fitness test on Friday or Saturday morning.

“But Marc-Antoine Fortune is ready to go.

“He’s been good for us, we’ll see how that goes.”

There could be more bad news on the horizon for Chesterfield, however, after an injection into Drew Talbot’s problematic knee failed to yield the desired result.

It means the 32-year-old could need to go under the knife.

Allen said: “Drew had an injection into his knee on Friday, it then settled down over the weekend, (we were) hoping he would be gently progressed back into training this week.

“Unfortunately the injection doesn’t seem to have worked.

“We’re now waiting for another appointment to see a consultant – probably, it’s not confirmed, with a view to having surgery.

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“What would the surgery mean? We don’t know until they get inside and have a look around.

“There’s a problem there that needs tidying up.

“We won’t know how long that’s going to be.”

Goalkeeper Shwan Jalal is making headway with an Achilles problem, but would be unavailable this weekend due to personal circumstances, and Robbie Weir is still a few weeks away from first team action.

“(Bennett) won’t be available for this weekend. We’re waiting for an update from Sheffield United,” said Allen.

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“Shwan is progressing slowly, he’s had a bereavement in his family and has gone back to London for a few days and won’t be available for this weekend.

“Robbie is progressing really well. He’s probably just got another couple of weeks, hopefully.”