While Paul Tisdale is hoping for the cavalry to arrive in the coming weeks, the Dons boss is trying to focus on the positives of the recent injury crisis.
Tisdale has been without a number of his key players since the start of the campaign, with Jordan Moore-Taylor, Ben Reeves and Joe Mason barely kicking a ball this term.
Baily Cargill and Rhys Healey have since added to that list and while disappointed to not have those five players at his disposal, Tisdale has relished the opportunity to give chances to other members of his squad, such as Sam Nombe and David Kasumu.
“Your life cant be dictated by fortune and misfortune,” Tisdale said in his pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend’s trip to Sunderland.
“We get on with it and I’ve been delighted to see other players play, as strange as that sounds. I’m not pleased they are injured, but I’m delighted someone else gets the chance.
“We may lose a point or two in this period, and we may have done so already by not having anyone fit, but I won’t lose sleep over it because you can get a scenario like Sam Nombe. There is always a silver lining and that’s a huge one for us.”
“He added: I’m disappointed for all the injured players but they’ll get there time – I’ve not lost any faith in them.”
Two injured players edging closer to a return are Jordan Moore-Taylor and Ben Reeves, with the former set to feature in Tuesday’s Leasing.com Trophy tie with Fulham Under-21s, which would be his first appearance since January.
“Jordan has trained incredibly hard. He’s been under the supervision of our Sports Science and Medicine team who have all worked so well with him.
“He’s got a tough bridging period ahead but I’m hoping he’ll play a part on Tuesday against Fulham Under-21s and that’ll be a big step forward for him and for us, having him back in the frame.
“Ben is making progress too. When you have his injury, it’s really difficult to predict a route back. It’s a fracture of the bone, a weight-baring bone, so it’s sometimes hard to predict.
“He’s running, he’s on the training ground and I can’t wait to get him back. We need to navigate ourselves through this period, we don’t want to push him back early, but he’s not far away.”
