Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman has delivered a promising update on the fitness of striker Colby Bishop ahead of the club's clash against local rivals Blackpool on Saturday.

Bishop, who has enjoyed a very encouraging start to his career at Accrington having joined the club from non-league Leamington during the summer transfer window, was taken off with an ankle injury in Stanley's 1-1 draw at Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday night, and there were some fears that the injury could leave him sidelined for a potentially long period of time.

That would have been a blow to Accrington who have already suffered injury problems up front so far this season, with both Courtney Baker-Richardson and Offrande Zanzala currently both out of action duo to injury, which has left Coleman light on forward options, with Dion Charles and Bishop being paired together up front and no real direct replacement on the bench.

Bishop had been forming an encouraging partnership with Charles in the last few matches, which has seen both players provide a goal threat for Stanley, with Bishop registering four goals in all competitions and Charles managing to score three times in League 1 so far this term, but that partnership has been interrupted by the injury suffered by Bishop on Tuesday.

However, speaking to the Lancashire Telegrapgh about Bishop's condition ahead of Saturday's clash at home to Blackpool Coleman said: "He’s had a scan but we don’t think it is as bad as we thought. His ankle was really bad swollen but has gone down now so we’re hoping it’s not too serious."

Verdict

When Bishop was brought off on Tuesday night, Accrington suppoters and Coleman would have been rightly fearing the worst, and considering the potential of having to be without the talented 22-year-old for a long spell, which would have been made even worse by the injury problems preventing both Baker-Richardson and Zanzala from coming into the side.

However, this latest update from Coleman offers some encouragement that Bishop will not be sidelined for as long a period as was first feared, which will hopefully see the striker back in contention to feature in Stanley's srating line-up in the comig weeks and build on the bright start he has made to both his career in the Football League and with Accrington.

However, in the meantime Coleman will need to manage his squad and find a solution to the absence of Bishop in the next few matches, which could see him having to alter his formation and elect to start with just Charles up front and look to get midfield runners up in support of the striker.