Curle provides an update on Sheehan's injury

Keith Curle has played down the seriousness of the injury sustained by key man Alan Sheehan during Saturday's goalless draw with Sunderland.

The 34-year-old centre-back missed four games with injury before Christmas but returned to play 77 minutes against Gillingham on Tuesday, 24 hours after signing a new contract.

He was in the team again on Saturday but indicated to the bench that he needed to be replaced around the hour-mark, with Fraser Horsfall coming on in his place.

"With his new deal Alan only gets paid for 60minutes!" Curle joked. "But we've managed to get him back on the pitch. There's been a lot of work going on because he's had a hamstring problem that's gone down into his calf.

"It was purely protective to take him off. We know we now have a break so it's an opportunity for Alan to get some rehab and get some minutes on the training pitch.

"He hasn't been able to do that with all the games but the last thing we wanted to do is finish the game and to then have Alan Sheehan missing for three or four weeks.

"Alan knows his body and he's an experienced pro so when he says 'no, I can feel it tightening up' you've got to get him off the pitch."