ShrewsWeb caught up with Town Physio Chris Skitt
Shrewsbury Town defender Joe Riley is expected to be out for four to six weeks after it was revealed that he will undergo an operation.Riley injured his knee in training on Thursday and missed the 1-1 draw with Southend on Saturday.
Town manager Paul Hurst said after the game that Riley may need an operation and that is the case, although the healing process should be faster than first thought.
Shrewsbury Town Physio Chris Skitt is hopeful that Joe will be in action sooner rather than later.
“We’ve had Joe scanned and unfortunately the damage to his knee will need an operation,” Chris told ShrewsWeb.
“It will probably keep him out for around four to six weeks. His operation is scheduled for Saturday, so he will be well on the way to recovery following that.
“On the back of the knee cap there is some cartilage which has taken a bit of damage from a tackle. That is something that unfortunately won’t repair itself so we need to go in and tidy it up.
“The operation is very straightforward. It lasts around 20 minutes, but obviously once you go into the joint it has added risks that you need to take care of, so that is why it will be the four to six week period.”
“Having spoken to the consultant today they have said that it could be as little as three weeks. We will probably take a little bit longer and use the upper limits of the six weeks to make sure that the knee is really strong and that he won’t have any future issues with it, both here and going forwards in the rest of his life.”
Meanwhile, there was good news for Town’s other injured players as Jack Grimmer and Shaun Whalley returned to full training, whilst Olly Lancashire made a step up in his recovery.
“Olly’s doing really well,” said Skitt. “We will be looking at dropping him into training towards the end of the week.”
“He’s done a full functional session outdoors with me, with sprinting, twisting and turning, so he’s well on the way and working really hard. I would hope for him to be back in full training near to the end of the week.
“Jack and Shaun both had extensive rehab sessions with me last week. A lot of sprinting and a lot of twisting and turning outdoors.
“Both of them thankfully came through that fine and have gone back into full training today, so we will be looking at how they progress through the week and making our minds up on whether the tolerance is there for them to drop back in for selection.”