Walsall defender ruled out after swelling delays thigh scan

Farquharson was supposed to have a scan on his thigh earlier this week but swelling has forced it to be delayed.

The 27-year-old, who limped off before the break during Walsall’s 1-0 defeat against Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park last week, is now set to undergo his scan later today. That will determine the severity of the issue, but Mat Sadler did confirm that Farquharson won’t be available for the weekend.

“There isn’t an update at the moment,” boss Sadler admitted. “We had to delay it for a few days while the swelling went down.

“He’s having a scan on Friday. So fingers crossed I’ll know on Saturday after the game what that is but he won’t be involved on Saturday.”

Danny Johnson has been training with the team for the past fortnight as he continues his recovery from a viral infection.

The 30-year-old has missed the whole of pre-season and the opening weeks of the new season but Sadler revealed Johnson is edging closer to a return.

He said: “Danny is still training which is good so yes he’s not far off. He’s in full training with us and we’d set a game in our heads a few months back which we’ve kept to ourselves.

“But he’s not a million miles away from that game so hopefully then he’ll come back into the reckoning.”

Meanwhile, first year pro Dylan Thomas is likely to get first-team opportunities in the EFL Trophy against Birmingham City and Fulham under-21s next month, before heading out on loan.

Sadler said: “We’ve made the decision to keep Dylan with us until after the Bristol Street Motors games next month.

“There’s two in September so we want to make sure we’re covered there and then most likely that’s when he’ll go out on loan.”