Luke Ayling ruled out for a month

Ayling suffered a slight tear to some cartilage in training recently and the 24-year-old had a minor operation on Thursday.

Interim boss John Pemberton told the club's official website: " It's a blow.

"It was innocuous and we've had it scanned. It's shown up a slight torn cartilage injury and it means he'll have surgery today. It's likely he'll be missing for four to six weeks."

Pemberton is unlikely to sign a replacement.

He added: "We've got Mark Little who has played that role before. I think we need to wait until the knee settles down after surgery so we get a good idea of how long Luke will be missing."