DARRAGH Lenihan will be sidelined for at least 12 weeks after successfully undergoing surgery last week.

Scans revealed the defender had suffered a stress fracture to his fifth metatarsal which required surgery which Lenihan underwent last week.

The 23-year-old, who hasn’t played since the opening day defeat at Southend United, will now focus on his rehabilitation from the injury which is expected to rule him out for the rest of the calendar year.

News of the scan, which came hours before Rovers moved to bring in Paul Downing on loan from MK Dons, came as a big blow to boss Tony Mowbray who had hoped the Irishman would now be back in action.

But he isn’t putting any pressure, or firm timeline, on a return date for Lenihan.

“I think it’s a process that you have to go through,” Mowbray said.

“I think he will be in a (protective) boot for six weeks, then he will go back and have a re-assessment.

“If everything is happy they will progress it out of the boot and do some rehabilitation.

“Then there is about six weeks before he goes back and is re-assessed again so that’s at least 12 weeks.

“I think Darragh is someone that we should not be putting too much priority on of how close he is at least for three months.

“We wish him the best and hope his rehabilitation goes smoothly.

“He’s a good kid and hopefully it’s not too long before we see him putting his boots back on.”

Rovers hope to welcome back Craig Conway from injury though, and boosted by that news, Mowbray said: “I think he epitomises what you need in good football teams.

“He’s a wide player who does two peoples’ jobs really, create things and get in the box yet is back helping out their full-back stop crosses in to the box.

“You have to have a big lung capacity, a tenacious attitude, ability to create and pick the right pass and put the ball in the right areas.

“Craig epitomises those qualities, whether we’re on the front foot trying to score or the back foot helping his full-back out, he does both.”