COLCHESTER United have suffered another injury blow after winger Adrian Akande was ruled out for up to three months with a knee injury.
The 21-year-old, who joined the U’s earlier this summer as a free agent after leaving League One side Reading at the end of last season, suffered the injury following a collision in training last week, at the end of finishing practice.
Akande, who has made eight appearances for Colchester so far this season, is now facing a prolonged period on the sidelines.
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Colchester boss Danny Cowley said: “The bad news is he’s opened up his knee and we thought he was going to need an operation; the good news is that he saw the surgeon yesterday and he doesn’t need to be operated on, so that is a positive.
“But we still anticipate maybe ten to 12 weeks, for him so that stung and we’ve got a few others as well that unfortunately, have picked up bits.
“Adrian is a young player who’s trying to get better every day.
“He’s got an incredible attitude towards wanting to improve himself and a real growth mindset.”
Colchester have received some welcome good news on the injury front, though.
Skipper Tom Flanagan’s calf injury is not as bad as first feared and the experienced defender should be available again ‘very soon’, according to boss Cowley.
Cowley said: “The good news, which I’m always looking for because my life is much better with good news, is that Tom Flanagan’s injury is nowhere near as bad as we first feared.
“We’re hoping that he will be available very soon.
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“When Tom did it, it was pretty innocuous – he just felt two pops just before half-time against Crewe.
“Whenever you’re away from anybody else and you feel pops, you fear it’s the Achilles which is what we did but it wasn’t that.
“There is actually a very small tendon in the calf area that not everybody has and he’s actually ruptured that.
“It’s a tendon or a sheaf of fibres that you don’t actually need and doesn’t particularly do too much, in terms of functions.
“The great news is that once the discomfort and the pain subsides, he’ll be able push on really aggressively and we’re at that point just about now, so that’s good.”
Colchester have also been lifted by the fact that key duo Ellis Iandolo and Will Goodwin are back out on the grass again, following their respective injuries.
Goodwin has been out since the opening day of the season with a quad injury, while Iandolo suffered a knee injury in pre-season which was initially expected to rule him out for several months.
Cowley added: “Will Goodwin and Ellis Iandolo have been on the grass this week and have done some ball work so again, not too far away so that’s a real positive.”
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