Darrell Clarke will have to go in to the loan market to sign a goalkeeper after Steve Mildenhall was withdrawn with a knee injury during the goalless draw with Wrexham at the Racecourse Stadium tonight. Mildenhall was unable to continue after sustaining medial ligament damage when rushing from his goal to deny Wrexham striker Andy Bishop a one-on-one chance in the 42nd minute. Clarke, who went without a goalkeeper on the bench for the fourth game in a row, was forced to play central defender Mark McChrystal for the remainder of the match and afterwards estimated that Mildenhall would be absent for at least âtwo to three weeksâ. âIt is a bit of a setback. It is too early to assess the full extent of the damage, but the early indicators are that Steve will be absent for at least two to three weeks. Iâll have to go into the loan market because Will (Puddy) has cracked a bone in his arm and is nowhere near yet, while Kieran (Preston) is a promising young goalkeeper, but not yet ready to be thrown in at the deep end.â
Puddy was injured a couple of weeks ago in a 'reserve' game. I don't know if he's fit yet. Not as good as Mildenhall as a shot stopper but his distribution is much better. I don't think DC will consider Preston ready yet to start a game.
DC said Puddy is nowhere near ready to return, he wont chuck Preston into the deep end and will use the loan market.
Mildenhall tweeted this.... "Gutted at being sidelined for 4-6 weeks especially at this time of year with so many games! Hopefully back as soon as possible!"
