Wrexham AFC boss Phil Parkinson says outstanding player has been playing with injury despite having suffering critical ailment.

PHIL PARKINSON expects that an injection will allow Ollie Palmer to keep his unbeatable record, but Rob Lainton’s comeback is still a long way off.

Record-signing Palmer has started all nine League Two games this season, but a lingering knee ailment that he has been “managing” has kept him out of Saturday’s 5-0 defeat at Stockport County.

“Ollie did some running on Monday to keep him active and he has had an injection in his knee,” Parkinson stated.

“He will rest, and we hope to have him back in training on Thursday.”

“He’s had a knee problem for a while, so we set him up for this jab, and we’re confident it’ll do the trick.”

“Hopefully this injection will help him with the issue he has.”

Palmer scored his second goal of the season at Grimbst but was taken out before the final whistle and was not risked at Stockport, appearing only in the second half.

“Ollie twisted it awkwardly against Grimsby and he managed it a little bit during the week,” Parkinson stated.

“We didn’t want to risk him too much against Stockport but had him on the bench if needed.”

Rob Lainton, the veteran goalie, hasn’t played this season due to a knee injury and may be out for a while.

“Rob’s still not making the progress we would have liked with his knee,” stated Parkinson.

“He’s not where he needs to be right now.”

“It is difficult for Rob but hopefully we will see him back out on the training ground in the coming weeks.”

Jordan Tunnicliffe, who is yet to play in the league this season owing to a back injury, has participated in another in-house practice game, while fellow centre-back Eoghan O’Connell (hamstring) is expected to return to training this week.

“Hopefully Eoghan will be back in full training by the end of the week while Jordan is building his way back up,” stated the manager of the Reds.

“He is getting there but he’s had a long period out with that back problem and we’ve got to make sure he’s right.”