Tranmere Rovers will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Bristol Rovers last time out when they take on Rotherham United on Saturday.
It’s set to be another tough test for Micky Mellon’s side against Paul Warne’s outfit who were relegated out of the Championship at the end of last season.
While Rotherham currently sit in 14th in the League One standings, their position is somewhat distorted by the fact that they’ve only taken part in three league fixtures so far this term.
Two victories on the road against AFC Wimbledon and Burton Albion and a defeat home against Lincoln City gives the Millers their six points, while they have also beaten Shrewsbury Town in the League Cup.
As we begin to preview the weekend’s game, here we will run through who’s unavailable for Rovers.
COREY BLACKETT-TAYLOR
The former Aston Villa man saw red last time out against Bristol Rovers and will serve a three-match suspension, starting at the New York Stadium this weekend. After demonstrating some glimpses of the quality he will bring to the side, Micky Mellon will have to do without the pacy wide man for the next few weeks.
OLLIE BANKS
Banks was the second Tranmere player to see red at the Memorial Stadium against Bristol Rovers. Two yellow cards means he’ll have an enforced absence of one match, but it will come against his hometown team and the club who gave him his professional debut at the beginning of his career.
JAKE CAPRICE
The right-back has missed the first few weeks of the season with an ankle injury sustained in a pre-season friendly against Walsall. It is not known how far off a return to action the former Leyton Orient man is, but he will likely miss out once more against Rotherham this weekend.
MARK ELLIS
Ellis sustained a knee injury towards the back end of last season and remains absent. A video was released, this week, showing him on his road to recovery, but it’s likely to be some time yet until we next see the experienced defender in a Rovers shirt on the pitch.
EVAN GUMBS
Another who picked up a serious knee injury at the end of last term, the young defender is unlikely to be available for selection until the new year.
JACOB MADDOX
Not strictly unavailable, but having not been involved since his loan move from Chelsea, we thought we’d include him here to provide an update. The young midfielder had niggling injury problems during pre-season, and therefore fell behind in terms of the work the other players had already got in the bank. A couple of weeks of full training behind him, Maddox still, obviously, will be lacking match fitness so expect him to be eased into the squad gradually. Whether that will be this weekend at Rotherham, we’ll have to wait and see.
ISHMAEL MILLER
The big striker was enjoying a good pre-season campaign, having recovered from the injury problems which blighted his spell after joining Rovers in the second half of last season, before sustaining a hamstring problem against Walsall in the final warm-up match before the new campaign. A timescale on how long the former Manchester City man will be out for has not been released, but he won’t be available for selection this weekend.
MORGAN FERRIER
In his pre-match press conference, Micky Mellon informed that striker Morgan Ferrier will likely miss the next eight weeks with a knee ligament injury sustained during training. The summer signing from Walsall has been a pivotal figure for the team at the top end of the pitch so far this season, so it’s a big setback. But it provides an opportunity for someone else to step into his place and take the team forward. The positive is that we have plenty of cover in this position, so it’s a chance to Paul Mullin, Stefan Payne and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy to try and cement their place in the starting line-up.
