WANDERERS have been dealt a double injury blow in the build up to Saturday’s game at Shrewsbury Town.

Jon Dadi Bodvarsson needs an operation on a broken nose and is likely to be missing for the rest of December, while young midfielder George Thomason faces a “significant” spell on the side-lines after dislocating his knee and tearing a ligament.

Wanderers are already missing Ricardo Santos, Kyle Dempsey, Will Aimson and Lloyd Isgrove for the trip to the Greenhous Meadow.

Ian Evatt confirmed Bodvarsson’s injury at his pre-match press conference, which occurred in a collision in the second half of last Friday’s 1-1 draw with Bristol Rovers.

“It’s quite a nasty break,” he said. “He needs an operation and he’ll have to have that on Monday. Basically, where it has broken and how serious it is, it is blocking one of the nasal passages, so he’s struggling to breathe again.

“He will have an operation to reset that nose. We are probably looking at three weeks.”

Thomason was seeing a specialist yesterday to find out whether he needs an operation to repair the ligament but Evatt confirmed he would be out for the foreseeable future.

“He dislocated his kneecap but the cap – the patella – went straight back in,” he explained. “The ligament which keeps the patella in place has quite a significant tear. We don’t know yet whether it needs surgically repairing yet but either way it will be a significant spell on the side-lines.”

Evatt admitted that Thomason’s absence comes as a blow, with the youngster having forced his way into regular first team rotation this season. But the Wanderers boss has backed him to make a success of his rehabilitation.

“He played quite a bit towards the end of the promotion season but this was really his breakout year,” he said. “He has really become a leader on the pitch.

“These things happen, they come to test you at any given time. George is sad, upset, but he has to now focus on his rehab, supporting his team-mates, and he will be back bigger and stronger. I think he is a fantastic young man, these things are never easy, but he will be fine.

“If I was to nail down one player who would dedicate his life to the game 24-seven, or to doing his rehab to the letter it would be him. I have no doubts about that.”