McGrandles to wear 'Phantom of the Opera' mask on his Dons return

The Dons midfielder suffered facial fractures in the opening day of the season win over Oldham Athletic, ruling him out since.

McGrandles had suffered problems with his vision following his injury, but manager Paul Tisdale believes he is nearing a return to the field, though will need to wear a protective mask.

"Conor McGrandles will have to wear a mask, like Phantom of the Opera!" he said. "I'm not sure he'll paint it a funny colour! But that's the next step for him, and when he has a bit of confidence with his training, he'll be ready to go."

Peter Pawlett also suffered injury in the game against Oldham, but has returned to full training and is back in contention for a first team spot.

Tisdale said: "Peter Pawlett is in full training, so now it's a case of when he will be robust and trained enough. It's a fabulous addition. But we've done really well without Peter, Lawson and Ryan Harley who are all of that attacking area ilk. It's now a question of time."

The manager continued: "Mathieu Baudry has been training, he's not quite ready yet, Osman Sow is not back in training and Ryan Harley is still having problems. We're just happy to get one back at a time."