Bowden-Haase injury rocks Rebels

Slough Town’s promotion hopes have been rocked by the news that key defender Nathan Bowden-Haase has all but been ruled out for the season.

The 26-year-old was taken to hospital on Tuesday night after fracturing his cheekbone against Wycombe Wanderers and is due to have surgery on Monday.

Rebels boss Steve Bateman says it will be between six to eight weeks before he is playing again, making it unlikely that he will feature again before the end of the campaign.

Bateman said: “It’s always disappointing when you lose someone like Nathan.

“He’s a very important player at the back and he’s also collected some very important goals at the other end.

“It was just a nothing crack of heads really but it’s left him with a fractured cheekbone which requires surgery.

“We’re looking at about six to eight weeks recovery time so there may be a chance he could possibly feature in the final couple of games. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Bateman added: “He’s suffered the same injury before so it’s familiar for him.

“It’s a real shame as he obviously wanted to play his part  in what we’ve still got to go for this season.”

Despite the loss of the key centre-back Bateman insists he has more than enough options to cover for his absence.

He said: It’s a blow but at the same time that’s why I’ve been adding to what we’ve got.

“We’ve got Dean Harper, Yiadom Yeboah, Chris Seeby, Kyle Jeffry and Simon Sweeny so we’re well covered in that position.”

For the rest of this story see this week's Express.