Shrewsbury Town midfielder Tom Bayliss will have surgery on an ankle injury that has ruled him out for the rest of the season, in a statement released on the club’s website today.
This unfortunate injury came about during a recent League One match at Montgomery Waters Meadow versus Morecambe, a 3-1 win on the day for The Shrews but the main talking point was Tom Bayliss rupturing his ankle ligaments.
The surgery will involve reconstructing his ankle, a setback for the former Coventry City midfielder.
Some would argue that Bayliss could be considered an injury-prone footballer throughout his career – a career which has seen him play Championship football for Preston North End – this is another obstacle he’ll have to overcome.
Shrewsbury’s number 20 was also having a fine season to date before this season-ending injury, scoring six times from the centre of the park alongside assisting five goals in 36 appearances.
His last strike for Salop in the league came away at Derby County, a free-kick narrowly finding its way into the net past Rams goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith to make Derby County’s 2-1 lead at Pride Park nervy. This ignited a comeback on the day for Salop, a late penalty put away by Luke Leahy salvaging a share of the points.
Steve Cotterill’s men have been a dark horse this League One campaign with the faintest possibility of the playoffs nearly on at one stage. Now, in 10th spot in the division, the Shrews continue to compete in the third tier and entertain the Salop faithful.
However, losing Tom Bayliss’ presence in central midfield will be a big blow for those with connections to the Shropshire based club.
Steve Cotterill spoke to the Shrewsbury Town website about Bayliss’ injury lay-off, giving further details on his upcoming surgery.
He said: “Tom Bayliss went down to London and had his consultation on Tuesday.
He has now been pencilled in for an operation next Tuesday (March 28) as that will hopefully give his ankle enough time to settle down.
We are really pleased that he will be able to go for surgery relatively quickly and that he will be back raring to go in pre-season.”
The Shrews manager also praised the performances of his 23-year old midfielder in the interview.
He said: “Tom has had a very good first season for us having not played a lot of football over the past few years.
He has been an influential figure on and off the pitch and we are looking forward to having him back next season.”
Writer’s View
Tom Bayliss will be a big miss for Shrewsbury Town as the season starts to wind down, the ex Sky Blues midfielder very rarely out of the team this season.
Unfortunately for him, another injury niggle has got in the way. If The Shrews were going into the back-end of the League One campaign gunning for promotion, this blow would sting a lot more.
As Steve Cotterill’s men don’t have an awful lot to play for in the middle of the division, the top priority will be for Tom Bayliss to rest up and undergo his surgery before returning fresh and ready for the start of another competitive League One season.
