Scunthorpe United: 'Tweaked' knee ligaments could sideline David Mirfin for eight weeks
Scunthorpe United may have to do without defender David Mirfin until 2013.
The scan the Iron centre-back had on his knee injury last week has revealed the 27-year-old has tweaked ligaments, meaning he faces up to six weeks on the sidelines.
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David Mirfin may not be fit to return to action until January because of a knee injury.
In Mirfin's absence, Niall Canavan has partnered Paul Reid in the United defence during the past two games – last Tuesday's win at Walsall and Saturday's 2-1 success against Coventry City.
But without any centre-back cover, manager Brian Laws admits he may need to change his focus when it comes to strengthening his squad.
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"When you're at the bottom end of the table, all these situations are ten-fold. You never get a clean bill of health," said the Iron manager.
"As we said at Gillingham (when Mirfin suffered the injury), it didn't look great. Some of it was self-inflicted because he's gone into a challenge.
"It looks like he's tweaked his knee ligaments, so he'll be out for possibly six to eight weeks.
"That's going to be a real issue for us, because at the moment we've got no real cover.
"Niall has come in and grabbed his position. He's performed really well. He had one slip-up on Tuesday, but none at Coventry, which is a bonus.
"Every day that goes by at the football club, I'm changing my thought process on where I need to strengthen.
"I've thought, is it midfield? Is it a striker? Or is it at the back? We seem to have to cover all angles at the moment, but we can't.
"We have to prioritise and make sure we do what's right."
Midfield is also a position in which Scunthorpe are struggling for numbers.
David Prutton still has two games of a three-match suspension to serve, Michael Collins is struggling for fitness, Damien Mozika has yet to start a game as he comes back from an ankle injury and Josh Walker will miss Saturday's home game against Notts County after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season at Coventry.
Laws admits he would love to be able to bring in a host of new faces – and is hoping back-to-back wins will bring fans back to Glanford Park to help boost his transfer fund.
"The situation is not going to change unless somebody puts in some private money," he explained.
"That's why I'm issuing a statement to the supporters saying that whilst I know money's tight, it can be invaluable to us in these periods.
"We need the supporters to come back.
"We've had at least one thousand missing. If only half of those came back, it would be fantastic.
"I know some managers are seeing my phone calls and ignoring them because they know what's coming. I'm going to have to plod along and keep asking.
"I'll keep going down that avenue but if nothing happens I'll try to get some of the fringe players to go out on loan to release some money.
"I'm going to juggle around and see what happens, but hopefully I might get a face in before the weekend.
"If that's the case, I've done well. But it might just help us continue our good form."
Readers of the Scunthorpe Telegraph will be able to watch Brian Laws’ first home game as Iron boss for up to £5 less than matchday prices. The Telegraph has teamed up with the Iron to offer fans amazing savings on ticket prices for the game against Notts County on Saturday, November 17. We will include a voucher in the next edition of the Telegraph, out November 15, which offers £5 off all adult tickets, £3 off concessions and enable entry to the ground for all Under-16s for just £1. Make sure you pick up a copy on Thursday, November 15.
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