On Saturday afternoon, Fleetwood Town travelled to Doncaster Rovers, looking to maintain their 100% start to the League One campaign.
As in the first two games, Rangers loanee Jordan Rossiter started in midfield as manager, Joey Barton, continues to back the 22-year-old.
However, on this occasion, the scouser only made it to half-time. He didn’t emerge after the interval, with Paddy Madden taking his place.
Rangers loanee Rossiter sustains unlikely injury
It turns out it wasn’t a tactical move, though. The switch was in fact due to a freak injury.
“We scored a goal and Jordan had to come off,” explained Barton, as quoted by the Blackpool Gazette. “He got a cut to his eye, which was caused in our celebration, weirdly.”
“He is off the pitch for a period and we did not get a chance to enjoy our 1-0. In that period it was men against boys.
“He’s got a bit of a cut on the top of his head but hopefully it is nothing to worry about and he is available for selection.”
Verdict
Rossiter’s Rangers career has been plagued by serious injury problems and bad luck appears to have struck the former youth international again, here.
It seems he had to go off to receive treatment before returning to complete the first period, but that the cut couldn’t be dealt with sufficiently at half-time, hence the substitution.
There are positives to take from this, though. While the Trawlermen eventually lost 3-2, it seems that Rossiter should be ok to return against Wycombe tonight [Tuesday]. Furthermore, we’ve got an insight into just how valuable an asset Barton believes his loan acquisition is.
The fact he described the game as ‘men against boys’ in Rossiter’s absence, should give the midfielder a significant confidence boost going forward.
