Matt Taylor offered an injury update about Chris Martin and Joel Senior ahead of Bristol Rovers' match against Cambridge United.
The Gas have collected four points from their opening three games in the third tier, beating Northampton Town 1-0 on the first day of the campaign before a 0-0 draw with Rotherham United on the road.
The Pirates suffered their first defeat in their previous outing, losing 2-0 to league leaders Stockport County, with Martin and Senior being forced off through injury.
The manager previewed the upcoming game against Cambridge and delivered injury and transfer news.
INJURY NEWS
"Chris has broken his fibular, so he’s going to be out for a significant period of time, and Joel has a significant tear of his hamstring tendon," said Taylor. "So, a disappointing day results-wise turned into a pretty bad day on the injury front.
"That’s two impacts we’ve had now. Chris and then Jamie [Lindsay] the week before. That can’t be helped. They’re tackles, they’re moments, it’s a physical game. We’ll support both players through their rehabilitation, but they won’t be on the team sheet any time soon.
"Best case scenario for Chris, it’s a six-to-eight-week mark, but realistically after missing a chunk of pre-season, it might be closer to the ten-week mark. It’s similar if not more for Joel."
GOALS IN THE TEAM
"I’m still confident there are goals in this team," said the boss. "Last weekend was a strange game because we created enough to be on the scoresheet but still didn't work the goalkeeper enough.
"So, it’s where the chances are coming and who they’re falling to. I think everyone’s biggest frustration after the weekend was our inability to retain the ball often enough or long enough to hurt the opposition.
"I still think we’ve got goals in this team and even with Chris starting at the weekend, albeit his injury, that group of our centre forwards have had such a disjointed pre-season in terms of combinations, partnerships, game time, fitness, sharpness, brightness. Ruel [Sotiriou] is set to get more game time and Promise [Omochere] the same.
"I’m looking forward to seeing how different partnerships work and develop and different dynamics in different areas of the pitch."
CAMBRIDGE UNITED PREVIEW
"I think we all feel the league this season is just a constant challenge," he said. "They’ve actually started the season better in terms of performances and the points show. They’re off the back of their best half an hour in terms of a goal return and comeback.
"You watch the second-half performance against Blackpool, and it was totally different in terms of the goal output and the response.
"You could sense their moment with the fans and their connection. So, they’ll come through that on a high maybe despite their league position and the points return they’ve got."
TRANSFER NEWS
"There’s still potential incomings and outgoings," said Taylor. "I suppose the deeper it goes, the more heightened the conversations are, and the closer deals get to being done one way or another because there is a cutoff point going towards the weekend.
"We have to be understanding of where we are budget-wise, situation-wise, and circumstance-wise. We’ve worked towards other areas of the pitch and obviously strengthened. Unless you’re going to outlay a huge financial amount, there’s not any real quality available."
