David Artell says that it is disappointing blow to lose midfielder, James Jones, at this stage of the season.

Jones suffered ankle ligament damage in the 1-0 win over MK Dons last weekend and a mid-week scan confirmed the damage rather than a fracture of the fibula.

Artell said of the news: “It is hugely disappointing for everyone, but especially James because he was playing terrifically well. For me he had surpassed being back to his best. From October onwards he had been a better version of himself. He had been in really good form for us.

“It is a blow and we will miss him but injuries are part of the game and you just have to come back strong. The good thing is James has been here before and he is mentally strong. He knows what he has to do and get his head round it.

“It certainly won’t be a long time out and the positive thing is that we have Saturday, Saturday, Saturday and he won’t miss a number of games because we don’t have any mid-week fixtures for a while.

“I won’t put a time frame on it because I don’t know. When the swelling goes down we will have a clearer idea. He will be back for the run-in certainly and let’s see where we can get to.”