PAUL Hurst hopes Grimsby Town striker Liam Hearn isn't out 'for a long time' as the club sweats on the results of today's scan.
The Hitman is set to undergo a scan on the knee injury he picked up in the latter stages of last weekend's victory over Barnet.
Hurst admits that he has real concerns for the 28-year-old, who also missed the majority of last season after rupturing his Achilles.
"We're not entirely sure how Liam is and that's the honest truth," he said.
"His knee is really swollen and he's going for the scan today, but there are real concerns with him.
"Our fears are that we could lose him for a long time again.
"He came on against Barnet, looked sharp and got his goal, but then he suffered what initially looked like an innocuous-looking injury.
"I think his foot got stuck in the turf and twisted his knee, but we obviously don't know exactly what he's done.
"He was in a lot of pain at the time, but when he got off the pitch, it looked like he was going to be ok.
"However, we took him to a specialist to have a look at it and he felt it necessary to send him for the scan.
"All we can do now is keep our fingers crossed until later today and hope it's nothing serious."
Even in the best case scenario, Hurst expects to be without his hot-shot striker for at least three games.
The boss says Hearn will definitely miss tomorrow's FA Trophy clash with Coalville, the midweek visit of Welling and the FA Cup Second Round tie with Northampton.
He continued: "We should have a good idea of what he's done straight after the scan, but hopefully the swelling is just his body reaction to trauma.
"We've all got our fingers crossed."
Keep checking on our website at grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/sport for the results of Liam Hearn's scan.
