Blues striker Aaron Drinan could miss the next two months having suffered a thigh injury in last week’s League One opener against Wigan Athletic, while Town continue to have a number of other injury absentees ahead of Saturday’s visit to Bristol Rovers, including centre-half Luke Woolfenden.

Drinan, 22, has made a big impression since the start of the season having made his Town debut in the Carabao Cup tie against the Pirates a fortnight ago almost two years after first coming to the club.

“No, they’re out,” Lambert said when asked whether Drinan and Woolfenden, who picked up a groin problem in training a week ago, would be back for tomorrow’s match.

“The two young lads are out. Aaron’s more severe than Woolfy is but those two kids won’t be available.

“Aaron will be out for a couple of months. That’s football I guess, and that’s what you get when you have six months off. You know that anyway, that’s what can happen.

“Aaron will be missed for a couple of months, especially when he’s done that well for us. Nobody expected him to come in as quick as what he’s done and he’s playing really well for us, so you just have to get on with it.

“He’s got a problem with his thigh at the minute. We just have to get on with it and hopefully he gets back quicker rather than later.”

Lambert says no one would have expected Drinan to have made such an impact in the early weeks of the season and feels for the Irish U21 international.

“That’s the predicament we are in really, and I can guarantee nobody would have thought we’d be talking about Aaron at this stage of the season, nobody would have thought that.

“He was terrific in training and made me think, 'OK, I’m going to give you a chance here'. He impressed me in training and to be fair to him he took his chance and was playing ever so well. These things happen, but he’s proven to me that he could do something for us.

Lambert says Drinan is now viewed as a first-team player who will come straight back into the fold rather than dropping into the U23s once he's fit.

"He’ll come into the fold, and we’ll see how he feels and how he does. He’s certainly proved to me that he can perform.”

With Drinan out, Lambert seems likely to have to start either James Norwood or Oli Hawkins as his lone central striker, but with neither yet at full fitness.

“James is getting more game-time,” Lambert said. “Obviously, he’s not played as much as a lot of the other lads, but we’ll see how he is this morning and the after effects from the other night.

“Oli Hawkins’s game-time has been down, but I thought he was excellent the other night, so we’ll see how James is.”

Is Norwood capable of replicating Drinan's link-up play? “He’s going to have to because Oli Hawkins is great at it as well.

“Oli’s game-time is not what we’d like because he came in a bit later, but James as well, he can definitely score goals and if he can add that to his game then great. But Aaron Drinan is a definite blow that’s for sure.

Another option is playing Freddie Sears down the middle: “That’s the good thing about Freddie, he can play through the middle, but we’ll wait and see how everybody is this morning, and I’ll decide from there.”

Starting Sears down the middle could allow Gwion Edwards to come into the League One XI after impressing so far this season as a sub in the first three games and starting against Fulham, and scoring the second goal against Wigan last week.

“Gwion has done well in the last two games, he did well when he came on against Wigan,” Lambert added.

“And he did well the other night, so I’m really happy with how he’s playing. As I said, I’ll see how all the guys are this morning and how they are feeling.”

Lambert says he hasn't heard anything from Birmingham regarding another of his strikers Kayden Jackson - “No, nothing” - and says the 26-year-old is making progress regarding his fitness.

“Hopefully he trains this morning and we’ll see how he feels. This game is too soon for him,” he said.

Could he be back next week? “He’s been out a long time and it takes time to get back to fitness again, but we’ll see how he is this morning.”

Cole Skuse also remains out of action with the knee injury he suffered in training prior to the Cambridge friendly.

Although frustrated at losing Drinan at a time when his other central strikers are not fully fit, Lambert says it’s not to be unexpected in the current circumstances.

“That’s the predicament we’re in,” he reflected. “That’s the situation, this virus has caught everybody, not just us, a lot of teams, and we’ve played a lot of games in a short space of time already.

“I think we’ve got to cram in maybe 50-something games maybe in 35 weeks, which is an incredible time, but everybody’s in the same situation.”

Asked whether he believes Town have more injuries than other clubs, Lambert said: “I wouldn’t go down that route. The whole league is 22 or 28 per cent on average higher with injures [since returning from the lockdown] so it’s just the way football is.

“It’s six months off, it’s not normal, it’s not a normal situation with guys having that time off.

“I remember watching the German league when it first started in lockdown and guys were going down like flies with injury just because of the length of time they’d been off.

“It’s just a really dangerous time that we’re going through at the minute and guys that are athletes are asked to go really quickly.

“That’s why I don’t get why we have the cup competition, the EFL Trophy and things like that. Surely your body dictates that you can’t play game after game after game, it doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve always said that it doesn’t make sense.”

Lambert says right-back Kane Vincent-Young remains sidelined with the injury he suffered in pre-season. Quizzed on when he thought the former Colchester man might return, he said: ”I don’t know, his achilles is still giving him problems, so I don’t know.”

Centre-half Corrie Ndaba is also still out but is improving after suffering a knock late in the EFL Trophy tie against Arsenal’s U21s: “Dead leg, not too bad, getting better, but not too bad.”

In addition to the longer-term absentees, Lambert says a few players have knocks from Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat to Fulham: “We’ve still got one or two from the other night. Again, that’s the long time off and a lot of games coming in succession, so there’s one or two from the other night, but we just have to get on with it.”

Better news is that Jack Lankester is over the concussion he suffered in training: “Yes, he’ll train this morning hopefully and we’ll see how he feels.

“It’s been a real hard time for him. Just with the two back problems and then he battled back and he trained and got a slight concussion on the side of the head the other day, so we had to watch that.

“We’ll see how Jack is this morning, he’s had the time that you give when you’ve had a bit of concussion, he’s had the medical checks and the time to get back better, so we’ll see how he is this morning, and again I’ll look at him.”

Lambert says Flynn Downes is fine having made his first appearance of the season as a sub against the Cottagers following the Crystal Palace bids and his subsequent transfer request.

“He’s good, as I said the other night, just let the lad go and play,” he said. “He’s a young kid who is learning the game, learning the pitfalls of it, the ups and downs, just let him go and play. Whatever happens with Palace will happen, just let him go and play. He’s OK.”

Photo: Matchday Images

dirtydingusmagee added 12:41 - Sep 18 Drinan was really looking like a good prospect now this !. I hate to say it ,but with their record i doubt that Norwood, Bishop ,Huws or Freddie will be playing long before being sidelined again , hope im wrong .We have a history of signing players with issues ,and it always comes back to bite us .
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Orraman added 12:59 - Sep 18 If Norwood and Hawkins are not yet 100% which seems to be the case from what little we've seen of them so far this season, then it would be wrong to play them tomorrow as in all likliehood it would aggravate their injuries. Give them another week and play Sears down the middle. It is his preferred position and his shooting eye is in form just now. We are getting good balls into box from midfield and Ward so give him his chance and give either Norwood or Hawkins 15 mins at the end

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ArnieM added 13:31 - Sep 18 WhoisjimmyJuan: What on earth are you talking about ? Ive not targeted any individual or "slagged anyone off"!! Ive asked the question what is going on the Club regarding injuries, stating just like everyone else on here , that this cannot be a coincidence. It is not hypocritical at all. Ive asked this same question of the Club regarding our injuries for over 3 years now. If me asking this question of our Coaching staff is regarding as me slagging them off, then so is everyone else on this thread that's said the same thing. Have you posted comments about them ? Of course now . Guess you and your little band will now be targeting my every post .

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WhoisJimmyJuan added 14:16 - Sep 18 ArnieM I refer you to comments on the Nsiala thread, and other threads recently. You criticise others for criticising the club and individual players, dismissing those posters as negative and numpties. But you feel free to criticise the club unilaterally about the injuries. That is double standards. If you don't like being picked up for it, don't start on other people's views please.

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grow_our_own added 16:28 - Sep 18 Stinks of over-exertion and over-competitiveness in training. There are clubs in L1 who cope with a squad of 18 players. You wonder if our squad of 41 is a hindrance when it comes to injuries. Instead of play, recover, play, it's a case of: playbe rotated, train-like-a-madman for fear of losing place or to gain place in team, play. Our squad is 10 players too big. Trim the fat and players won't be as inclined to kick chunks out of each other in training.

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afcfee added 16:41 - Sep 18 Lota of clubs are going to suffer with injuries was stupid to end the season, will be funny watching Coventry go back down as a result of getting the easy route up tho. Shame about Drinian as looked the part up top. Now we have Norwood who is still recovering from Eat Out To Help Out
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afcfee added 16:44 - Sep 18 Simpson and Zak Brown in squad please
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backinbeige added 16:54 - Sep 18 It's mad that an injury I didn't even notice Drinan get during the game, and we weren't sure whether his substitution was for an injury or tactical, is something that's going to keep him out for two months. Hawkins has been touted as a target man, the role Drinan was playing first half against Wigan, so it's good we should have a decent replacement.
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Linkboy13 added 19:18 - Sep 18 Several seasons ago Town employed a fitness coach who i think was surplus to requirements due to cash cuts. These injuries can't be down to bad luck, bad luck doesn't last for such long periods. Im sorry to sound boring but most of these injuries are strains and pulls which is normally down to excessive running or repetitive stress injuries (RSI) and not enough Plyometrics strength work (injury prevention). When any of our players get injured they never seem to return quickly and in KVY case it looks like another operation is on the cards hope im wrong though.

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planetblue_2011 added 08:27 - Sep 19 Real shame for Drinan he was making a good impact. With Jackson out, Norwood & Hawkins not 100% fit the injury list continues with other players too, something isn't right & has to be done.
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