Tranmere Rovers captain Scott Davies will miss the rest of the season due to an Achilles injury.
Rovers may also be without their 34-year-old custodian at the start of next season.
Davies was stretchered off after falling awkwardly while collecting a cross 13 minutes into the game against Mansfield.
“Our worst nightmare came true. “It’ll be a long recovery,” said boss Keith Hill on BBC Radio Merseyside.
“He requires surgery.” He has our full support for a speedy recovery.”
During Davies’ absence, Joe Murphy is set to fill in for the League Two promotion contenders, who are currently third with nine games remaining.
Tranmere Rovers travel to Cheltenham Town on Friday before hosting leaders Cambridge United on Monday.
The first season of this decade would see the Lads continue to be managed by Denis “It’s a stigma” Smith (see the previous edition to see why I call our former manager this) and look to improve on their mid-table finish in 1988-89. The Lads would have derbies with both the Smoggies and those up the A19 who wore barcode shirts in 1989-90; could we prove to both that we were the top dogs in the region? Marco Gabbiadini had another 20-goal season, and he was ably supported by good seasons from Gary Owers and Gordon Armstrong. While we were never in the top two for automatic promotion, the Yorkshire duo of Leeds and Sheffield were.
United had that covered for the majority of the season, and the Lads were in with a chance of making the play-offs. And that’s where we ended up; a last-day home defeat to Oldham Athletic saw the Lads finish sixth rather than fourth (where they started that day), setting up a two-leg semi-final against an old foe.
The first leg was a tense affair, with three bookings in the first eight minutes. If that doesn’t convince you that no love is ever lost in a Tyne-Wear derby, you’re watching the wrong sport. Our hopes were harmed further in the final minute when referee Vic Callow of Solihull sent Paul Hardyman off, forcing a reshuffle for the second leg and, if the Lads make it there, the Final. The second leg, however, will go down in history as goals from Eric Gates and Gabbiadini beat the barcodes on their patch and set up a final against Swindon Town. Swindon won that game on the day thanks to an Alan McLoughlin goal, but their promotion was revoked ten days later.n away and handed to the Lads due to illegal payments made by the Wiltshire.
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