Chesterfield receive mixed injury news on defenders Gavin Gunning and Fraser Kerr

The centre-backs both went off injured in the defeat to Sutton United at the Technique Stadium.

Kerr hobbled off with a knee problem after 20 minutes and Gunning walked off with a hamstring injury in the second half.

After the game Spireites boss James Rowe said that both injuries looked ‘bad’ but scans have returned mixed results.

Providing an update on Friday, Rowe said: “It is good news on Fraser.

“It is a bad knock, the structure of his knee is okay.

“He should not be long-term.”

On Gunning, he added: “Gavin’s is a hamstring one but again that is pretty good news, that could be a quicker recovery than we first thought. Gavin will be more long-term than Fraser.”

Rowe kept his cards close to his chest when it came to revealing whether it would be weeks or months before their return but he is confident that he has a squad capable of picking up results in the meantime.

Both Gunning and Kerr have been excellent for Town but their setbacks will provide an opportunity to others.

“We have obviously got Haydn Hollis, Josef Yarney and Will Evans,” Rowe said. “It perhaps disrupts the way we want to play because different players have got different attributes.

“Haydn is more than capable of coming in there, I thought he showed that when he came on the pitch (against Sutton United), I thought he was excellent.

“I have no qualms with whoever comes in, I am sure we are good enough to get results.”

When asked by the DT if he could possibly bring in any defensive reinforcements to help cope with the injuries, Rowe said not and that he is ‘very happy’ with what he has got.

“I think we are in a good place with the players who are in and around it as well who have not quite had enough starts perhaps in the last few weeks but as I have said we are going to need the squad, whether that be mental fatigue, physical fatigue, injuries, that comes into practice now,” he added.