Martin Rowlands’ injures may scupper his chances of earning a permanent deal at Colchester United.
Rowlands’ season could be over after he suffered a hamstring injury in the U’s 1-1 draw with Hartlepool United, on Good Friday.
The experienced midfielder has made a big impact since joining Colchester on a short-term deal from Queens Park Rangers, in January.
The U’s have tasted defeat just once in the games Rowlands has featured in.
But the 33-year-old has completed 90 minutes just twice for the U’s and will definitely miss their trip to Bury today.
U’s boss John Ward said: “Martin has pulled his hamstring and we’ll probably lose him until the end of the season.
“There’s a history of Martin getting injuries I’m afraid and it’s a shame, because he can make the difference to the team.
“I left him on the bench (against Hartlepool), because he’d only had a couple of days’ training.
“It wasn’t a risk, because he’d trained properly and everything had been done right but it’s one of those things.
“I don’t know how it will impact on the future but he needs more time on the pitch.
“I can’t afford to have a player that’s not going to play enough football and I have to look at that side of it.
“I’m not having a go at Martin but we’re going to be really tight next year, in terms of the playing squad.”
Ward is looking for an improved performance from his U’s side at Gigg Lane today, after they played out their seventh draw in eight matches against Hartlepool.
Freddie Sears’ penalty rescued Colchester a point, after Antony Sweeney had given Pools an early lead, at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.
“We’ll keep everything as thorough and professional as we always do,” said Ward, who watched Bury play at Brentford on Saturday.
“It’s seven draws out of eight but if it was seven losses out of eight, I’d be really upset.
“I’d like seven wins out of eight but we’re undefeated in a lot of matches.
“We knew Hartlepool would be hard to break down and they’ve won eight games away from home.
“But we can play a lot better than that and we frustrated ourselves with the way that we played.
“We wanted to be better in front of our home supporters but we’ve dug out a point.”
See Monday's Gazette for more U's news, including a full match report and pictures from their 1-1 draw with Hartlepool United.
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