Dons defender set for spell on the sideline after suffering Cup injury

Defender Jack Tucker is likely to miss the next few weeks after suffering an ankle injury in the FA Cup first round defeat to Reading on Saturday.

The 23-year-old suffered the injury when a Royals player landed on him after he made a tackle, and though he limped on for a few minutes after treatment, was substituted after 20 minutes.

Speaking immediately afterwards, head coach Mike Williamson hinted that it may be ankle ligament damage Tucker suffered in the incident. And speaking on Wednesday, the head coach confirmed a scan on Tuesday did not return good news for the former Gillingham man.

"Losing Tucks is a blow," he said. "He's got to see a specialist to navigate which route we take. He'll be longer term, and that's a difficult one to take.

"That's the nature of football, but he's got a good mentality, he'll get his head down and work hard and plan for his return."

There was better news for Dean Lewington though, who came through his late cameo appearance at the Select Car Leasing Stadium unscathed, while Williamson also gave updates on several other players plotting their returns to full fitness.

He said: "(Lewington's) been really good, we didn't want to take any risks with him, but he's very robust and he wants to get back in. We don't want to expose him to too many minutes too early, so we've got to be careful with him, but he's looking good.

"Anthony Stewart has had a bit more training, and we'll see how he looks. Ellis (Harrison) is progressing really well but is still a couple of weeks off, Ethan (Robson) shouldn't be too long either.

"Nath (Harness) and Ash (Hunter) are longer term, and there are a few more bumps and bruises in there which shouldn't be a concern for Saturday."