“He went straight to the hospital, so a dislocated shoulder,” Michael said in this week’s press conference. “It’s one of those injuries where it’s either really bad and it could be season over, ten or twelve weeks to fully recover and it might need surgery. It might be something that we can manage till the end of the season. It’s definitely not this weekend.”

“He’s got another scan and see a specialist tomorrow before we go. It’s a shame because we lose another body there and another body in midfield, but we’ve just got to regroup and go again.”

Hackett was replaced by Dylan Duffy, who had a decent game up until the latter stages. He was sent off for a second bookable offence, which means he, too, will miss the game. That perhaps paves the way for Jack Burroughs to come into the side. The Coventry loanee has been on the bench of late, but it’s important to remember that he was a regular starter up until his injury at Christmas when Reeco returned and slotted in at wing-back.

The Imps appear to have been cursed with injuries this season. Early on, we lost all our strikers, bar Jovon and struggled for goals. Since then, we seem to have had the same issue in midfield, and we travel to Cheltenham, missing several first-team players. In addition to Reeco and Dylan, Lewis Montsma is a long-term absentee (recently pictured kicking a ball again), while loanee Conor McGrandles is also out.

Elsewhere, Ethan Hamilton’s season ended early after he’d been touted as a possible Player of the Season, and it appears Ted Bishop will also play no further part due to an injury he sustained recently. It’s reflective of a challenging season in terms of fitness and a real testament to the squad’s strength of character that we’re even in the playoff hunt at all.