Express & Star

Walsall v Cheltenham: Who's out and who's a doubt

Walsall welcome Cheltenham Town to the Poundland Bescot Stadium on Saturday.

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Saddlers boss Mat Sadler has a small number of players on the treatment table.

Here are their chances of making Saturday's game:

Priestley Farquharson - thigh (0%)

Farquharson won't be involved on the weekend after limping off with a thigh injury at Tranmere last week.

The defender is due to have a scan on Friday with Sadler expected to provide an update after the game.

Sadler said: “There isn’t an update at the moment. We had to delay it for a few days while the swelling went down.

“He’s having a scan on Friday. So fingers crossed I’ll know on Saturday after the game what that is but he won’t be involved on Saturday.”

Danny Johnson - viral infection (0%)

Johnson returned to team training just over a fortnight ago as he continues his recovery from a viral infection.

The forward has missed the whole of pre-season and the opening weeks of the new season. Sadler has been keen not to set a timeframe on his return although he did reveal that Johnson is edging closer to coming back into the reckoning.

“Danny is still training which is good so yes he’s not far off. He’s in full training with us and we’d set a game in our heads a few months back which we’ve kept to ourselves," the Walsall boss revealed.

“But he’s not a million miles away from that game so hopefully then he’ll come back into the reckoning.”

Brandon Comley - leg (0%)

Comley has been out of action since suffering a fractured leg during Walsall's 3-0 pre-season defeat against Villa in mid-July.

The midfielder received positive x-ray results a fortnight ago and is back on the grass at Essington.

He has not yet returned to team training but Sadler confirmed he is still on course to possibly be available in three weeks time.

Sadler revealed: "He's on the grass. Not with us but the physios are going through the conditioning that they need to do.

"There's been no setbacks but he's probably still three weeks away."

Donervon Daniels - knee (0%)

Daniels picked up a knee injury while on international duty with Montserrat earlier in the summer but returned to feature in the opening two games of pre-season.

However, it soon became clear that the Walsall captain was unable to play through the pain barrier and it was confirmed he would require surgery.

The defender came through his surgery a fortnight ago and is targeting a possible return at the end of September.

"Donervon does everything that he needs to do to give himself the best possible chance. Sometimes you have to pull the reins on him to make sure he doesn't do too much," he said.

"We spoke today about the end of September being a possible target. That's what's in Donervon's mind at the moment but what we'll make sure is that he's ready to go when he does come in."