Fleetwood Town central defender Darnell Johnson has been sidelined for the rest of the season with an Achilles Tendon injury that he suffered in their victory away Rotherham United 10 days ago, Fleetwood Today reports.

Head coach Simon Grayson broke the news after the club's medical team confirmed that Darnell Johnson has hurt his Achilles Tendon, and he'll now miss the rest of the season.

He limped off the pitch in the game against Rotherham United at The New York Stadium in the 20th minute after he landed awkwardly from an aerial duel with a United player.

Johnson — who found the back of the net on his debut match against Cheltenham after agreeing to a two-year contract — had just made four appearances for the Cod Army before picking up the issue.

Simon Grayson, while speaking to the media after the occurrence of the incident explained the gravity of the injury as being a catastrophe to the club who have already been badly hit due to injuries to Brad Halliday and Shayden Morris, to mention but a few.

In his statement, the manager said: "We were given a bit of a bombshell the other day that Darnell Johnson has done his Achilles and will be out for the season.

“He’s done the tendon, which is obviously terrible news for Darnell. Couple that with Brad Halliday being out for the season, and we were missing Shayden Morris with a foot injury, Harrison Holgate has a tight Achilles, Anthony Pilkington and Dan Batty, who is struggling with a bit of illness.

“These are players who really influence our team but the younger players are coming in and taking opportunities."

The Verdict

It is quite unfortunate that Darnell Johnson has suffered an injury at the early stage of the season after just moving to the club.

As an injury-hit team following the significant number of players on the sidelines, Simon Grayson has a tough job on trying to navigate his team through these testing times.