Shrewsbury's Junior Brown injury not as bad as feared

The 27-year-old missed the trip to Bury after landing awkwardly towards the end of training last Friday and was sent for a scan.

Results revealed there was no break to the ankle area and the ligament damage appears to be less serious than first feared.

Brown had not missed a minute of football for Micky Mellon's men this term before his enforced absence in the reversal at Gigg Lane.

"It's not as bad as we first thought so we hope to get him back quickly," said Salop chief Mellon.

"He's not trained yesterday and if there was a match tonight then he wouldn't play, but he's certainly getting better. It's a positive because with ligaments it could be any number of months.

"It was tough for us because we all know how big a player Junior is for us but I trust my squad and anybody that comes in I expect to do a job. I'm not looking for excuses."

Meanwhile, Town have received mixed news on the injury front following the weekend.

Both Ian Black and AJ Leitch-Smith have returned to training after recovering from hamstring injuries.

The pair have both featured regularly so far this season, clocking up five and six appearances respectively.

"They trained yesterday," added Mellon. "Saturday was too early for Ian after a hamstring, but he's trained and he's fine."

Both players are likely to come into contention for selection ahead of Saturday's home fixture against high-flying Scunthorpe United.

However, despite this good news, Mellon is now facing a fresh injury headache.

Loan man Ivan Toney and summer signing Joe Riley both picked up knocks at Bury and neither player trained yesterday.

"There's a few bumps and bruises. Ivan Toney has taken a sore whack. He's got a really sore ankle. Joe Riley's got a sore knee that's blown up a little bit."

Jim O'Brien continues to encounter frustration in his injury battle.

The midfielder missed the trip to Bury after pulling up in training on Friday.