Shrewsbury Town manager Matt Taylor has stated that defender Morgan Feeney has suffered a freak injury to his kidney in an interview with the Shropshire Star.
Feeney had been completely left out of the Shrewsbury squad for their clash against Exeter City on Tuesday night, with the manager putting that down to an injury.
The defence managed to make do without the 24-year-old who had only just recently returned from a separate injury, as they held Exeter to a 0-0 draw at St. James Park. However that wasn’t exactly a great result given that Exeter had gained just one point from their previous nine league matches.
Feeney was not the only defender missing from the squad, with Tom Flanagan also set for a spell on the sidelines after going off after just seven minutes against Port Vale at the weekend.
Fortunately for Shrewsbury, Flanagan’s injury does not seem as bad as first thought and he could still play a part in the Shrews League One campaign later on in the season. Although Matt Taylor would come out to say that the 31-year-old would be out for “a matter of months as opposed to weeks” he also confirmed that it was not an ACL injury for the ex-Northern Ireland international.
There was more positive news for Shrewsbury fans with Taylor also insisting that Feeney’s injury was also not a long-term problem, more so a freak injury.
Feeney had been ever present in Salop’s back line at the start of the season before suffering a hamstring injury in their clash with Northampton in early October. Saturday’s match against Port Vale was his first game back in over six weeks, however he is yet again sidelined with an injury, this time to his Kidney.
Shrewsbury boss Taylor has been impressed with Feeney, since he joined from Carlisle United in the summer window and rates him highly enough to put him straight back into the starting eleven following his hamstring injury.
Speaking to the Shropshire Star on Feeney’s latest injury, Taylor said:
“Morgan Feeney has an injury with his kidney, a complete freak injury, we are hoping we can get him back in and around the group as soon as possible.
“The issue he has got is not something I have ever seen in football before so it is a difficult one.”
No more details, nor a return date have been given as of yet, and more will be known about the extent of the injury prior to their FA Cup tie against Notts County on Friday night but it is unlikely that the defender will play any part.
Writer’s View
The latest injury to Feeney, although not long term is somewhat of a worry given his previous injury history. He also joins teammate Flanagan on a growing list of injuries at the club.
With a quick turnaround to play Notts County, it is likely that Feeney will be left out of the squad again unless fully recovered. That could be quite impactful given that Shrewsbury probably don’t quite have the depth that they would like in order to play three games in under a week, and that could impact the result against their League Two opposition when they travel to Nottingham on Friday.
Senior Editor
