Bristol Rovers goalkeeper Joe Day has been ruled out of Tuesday’s trip to Burton Albion.
The 30-year-old was kicked in the face in the process of making a save in stoppage time against Shrewsbury Town on Saturday which saw him knocked out and suffer a cut to the face.
He is now following concussion protocols and Gas boss Joey Barton has confirmed Day will not make the trip to Staffordshire to face the Brewers.
Jordi van Stappershoef, who replaced Day on Saturday and made a vital save to preserve the victory with the last act of the game, will play in the Cardiff City loanee’s absence, with 20-year-old Liam Armstrong set to make the bench.
First-choice keeper Anssi Jaakkola is close to a return from an Achilles injury and is back in training after three months out, but Tuesday’s game comes too soon for him.
“Joe’s going to miss the game,” Barton said. “He’s got a couple of stitches in his face and he was knocked out, so there’s a concussion protocol to follow.
“That will mean Jordi will come in, because Anssi’s not with the squad and not fully fit yet.
“After the save Jordi made at the end of the game, hopefully he carries that in on Tuesday and hopefully he has a similar experience to Joe.
“For 90 minutes, Joe didn’t really have much to do in the last two games, but it was beyond the 90-minute mark when he got busy.”
Brandon Hanlan played and scored against Shrewsbury despite not training at all last week, but he has come through fine and did not suffer a flare up of an Achilles niggle.
Alex Rodman, too, is available, despite suffering a cut to his eyebrow on Saturday which required stitches.
“Hopefully Brandon’s fine,” Barton stated. “He came through the game OK and didn’t aggravate what’s been ongoing. Rodders has had a couple of stitches in a wound on his eye.
“We’ll check them all in the morning, just to be double sure, but as of now we’ve only got Joe who is definitely going to miss the game, because of the concussion protocol.”
