Dave Challinor reveals how long Millwall loanee Tyler Burey will be out for as Hartlepool United have a few injury doubts ahead of Bristol Rovers

The 20-year-old winger is Pools’ top scorer in League Two so far this season and was nominated for the fourth tier’s player of the month award for August following a dazzling start to life at Victoria Park.

But Dave Challinor is now preparing to be without the Millwall loanee for at least the next few months.

"Tyler had a scan on Monday which confirmed a grade three tear,” Challinor said.

“He then saw a specialist on Tuesday and he won't require surgery but you're looking at 12 weeks if you're being conservative. Millwall will be safe with him being a young player and the first time he's picked up an injury of this nature.

"Hopefully we'll have him back by the end of November as a return to training or return to play. He'll go back [to Millwall], do his rehab and then he'll come back and reintegrate to the group here.”

Elsewhere in the squad, Pools' second top scorer Gavan Holohan is a doubt for Saturday’s match against Bristol Rovers (3pm kick-off) with a muscle strain.

"We’re touch and go on a few but none who are long term,” Challinod added. “We’ll make decisions on a few, some have missed training through illness and have had Covid tests and hopefully they’re all negative.

Even with in that, you make a decision regarding a player who has missed a couple days training and is feeling a little bit ill.

“Gav is more just a muscle injury, a fatigue, a tightening but it's nothing serious. We’ll decide whether it’s worth the risk and whether he could potentially do more damage, we’re not going to put him in that position.

"If it was the play-off final, we wouldn’t have stopped him playing but with it being so early in the season and outside of a transfer window, we have to be careful.

"Shelts [Mark Shelton] took a kick in training and we pulled him out of the session and he probably won’t train fully today but he should be fine for the game on Saturday.”

But with injury issues comes opportunity for some of Pools’ lesser used players so far this season.

And Challinor believes there are two players in particular who have proven that they deserve the opportunity in the absence of the likes of Burey and Holohan.

“We have players in Gav’s position who are keen to come into the side which ultimately makes the decision to rest him easier,” Challinor told The Mail

"[Luke Molyneux and Matty Daly] in particular have been crying out for an opportunity and, especially against Carlisle, have been fantastic.

“Dales has been brilliant and has scored goals in every game he’s started if you include the bounce games. Mols has impacted games, maybe not as much as he would have liked but he was fantastic against Carlisle.

“Gav has been a really important player for us but we can rest him safe in the knowledge that we’ve got two players who are more than capable of doing a job in that position.”

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