Reading defender Haydon Roberts has faced a setback on his original injury recovery time, now putting his involvement in their Easter double header against Lincoln City and Huddersfield Town in doubt.
The centre-back, who was signed from Bristol City back in January, only managed to make seven appearances since his arrival in Berkshire before sucumbing to a hamstring injury in a home draw with playoff rivals Bolton Wanderers.
Slow Progress Hinders Timeline
Speaking after their game against Port Vale towards the end of February, Reading boss Leam Richardson initally gave a ‘four-to-six week’ timeframe for Roberts, with the upper end of that timeframe taking him to the Easter weekend, which sees the Royals travel to Huddersfield Town before welcoming title contenders Lincoln City on the Monday.
However, when giving an update on both the defender and winger Daniel Kyerewaa ahead of their clash against Burton Albion to the Reading Chronicle, Richardson revealed some disappointing news about the former’s injury progress.
“[Daniel]’s not in full training as yet. He had his brace off last week. He’s obviously important, every player is important for us.
“We’re still guided by the medical team. He saw the consultant last week, which was all positive but then we’ve got to obviously come through certain things and tick certain things off medically for him to hopefully be on our pitch sooner, hopefully sooner rather than later.
“[On Haydon Roberts] Very similar [To Daniel Kyerewaa].
“Probably not as quick as Haydon would like, not as quick as we’d like but we’re in the hands of the medical team and we’ve got to trust their expertise with that.
“So the quicker they can come back, the better because we’ll need all the players for the running.”
Injury Setbacks Threaten Promotion Push
With Reading facing some key fixtures in order to put themselves in the top six by the end of the season, injury setbacks will be harmful to their chances of reaching their goals of a Championship return.
Haydon Roberts has only been with the club for a limited amount of time but there have been some good glimpses of what is to come with his opening three games seeing him provide a goal and assist.
Overall, Reading have been struggling to keep clean sheets, so losing an option like Roberts is a hindrance to their chances of claiming three points, especially in games which have a lot riding on them like their Saturday game against Stevenage.
For Daniel Kyerewaa, his absence is not as crucial with the way the Royals have been able to perform in their attacking performances, with their loss to Mansfield Town being the only game they have not found the net in their last ten outings.
However, the German has been able to step up in some key games, including in the reverse fixture against Burton Albion, and in games which require individual moments of brilliance to tip the balance, his continuing injury could prove costly.