Ruddock Mpanzu to miss Stags clash

The midfielder made his first league appearance for almost three months during Saturday’s 1-0 win over Carlisle, but picked up another injury, although boss John Still confirmed be wouldn’t be out for long.

Still said: “He got injured straight away and we’d made our subs, but he just couldn’t push off.

“At one stage I thought he was playing for them! Every time he got the ball he couldn’t get away from anyone and was just trying to find a simple pass.

“He normally did, but it was normally to them, so when you think of it, I was really pleased because it was 12 against nine!

“Fortunately it’s not too bad. He does need a little bit of treatment, but Saturday he might be able to play for us.”

Luke Wilkinson is also out as he starts the first game of his two match ban, while Alex Lawless remains doubtful, but there was better news for striker Paul Benson, as Still continued: “Paul’s trained today. We’ve got a development game tomorrow he won’t play in as he needs a weeks training but will push on next week.

“With Alex, the bit of bad weather with the frosty grounds meant he couldn’t train properly so he missed a week really.

“With the inclusion of Ryan Hall and Nathan (Oduwa), plus Shaun Whalley’s form, we haven’t got to push him.

“He can get fit naturally and I think that’s the right thing to do in his case.”

New loan signing Cameron McGeehan is also unavailable due to the final game of his three game ban picked up while at Cambridge United, as Still added: “We’re not even sure we would have started him anyway after just coming in, more likely he would have been on the bench.

“So he now gets a full weeks training so I don’t think that’s too terrible that he’s not available tomorrow, but from then on in, we’ll be down to 16/17 games left, it’s a really important time of the year and with losing Nathan Doyle, that gives us a little bit more strength in that area.”

Still also clarified the extent of midfielder Doyle’s injury, adding: “There’ll probably be a bit more news in a few days.

“It’s settling down, but until it settles right down we’ll know the full extent because at the moment it’s just from where the knock was.

“We’re not quite 100 per cent sure of the damage, but at a guess, maybe five to six weeks in total.”