GRIMSBY Town's Aswad Thomas faces up to six weeks on the sidelines – and the search for a replacement starts today.
Following Saturday's disappointing 1-1 draw with Dover, Town boss Paul Hurst revealed that Thomas – who was seen wearing a protective boot at Blundell Park – has fractured his fibula.
With his first-choice left-back out of action for the immediate future, Hurst admits that much of his work this week will be focused on bringing in a suitable replacement.
He said: "Aswad has had an X-ray and he's fractured his fibula. He'll be out for about six weeks. It's far from ideal – I know that you pick up injuries in football, but there are other areas of the squad where we could have coped with another injury, but not the left-back slot.
"Carl Magnay has played there quite a bit for Gateshead, but that moves him out of the right-back position where he's been, so we need someone in really.
"Without guaranteeing anyone a slot, Aswad is pretty much a fixture there – provided that he's fit and doing okay, so to lose him is desperately disappointing."
Hurst doesn't expect his search for a replacement to be straight-forward, adding that left-backs are currently in short supply.
However, he's hoping that a few more players on the fringes of Football League clubs may become available, now that their seasons are well underway.
He added: "We looked in the summer in case anyone came in for Aswad and there was very little out there to be honest. Gateshead, for example, dropped down and got a lad from a lot lower because there's not that many available, but we'll certainly be looking.
"In the Football League, one or two players might now have an idea of whether or not they're in the picture at their parent club, so we'll have a look what's out there and see what options are available to us.
"I'll certainly be busy making calls this week to see what's out there and what we can do on that front."
