Steven Schumacher left sweating on Bolton Wanderers player as Bristol Rovers looms | OneFootball

The defender is set to miss the midweek trip to the Memorial Ground after being ruled out of Saturday's victory over Burton Albion

Steven Schumacher has confirmed that Bolton Wanderers will still be without George Johnston for the trip to Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night, as the club still await results on the extent of his hamstring injury.

The defender missed the 2-1 victory over Burton Albion at the weekend after complaining about a ‘cramp-like’ issue the day before the game, and is set to miss the trip to the Memorial Ground as the Trotters’ medical staff continue to assess the extent of the injury.

While there is every hope that the 26-year-old won’t be out for too long, Schumacher has no new injury issues ahead of the journey to the southwest in midweek, as his side look to continue their quest to finish in the League One play-off places this season.

With seven victories from their last nine league outings, Wanderers moved into the top six of the third tier after the victory over the Brewers last time out, and will be looking to continue that good run of form against the relegation-threatened Gas.

Steven Schumacher highlights George Johnston, Bolton Wanderers issue ahead of Bristol Rovers encounter

Having played the 90 minutes of the 3-1 win over Birmingham City last Tuesday, Johnston was unavailable for Saturday’s trip to Burton after a late fitness concern seeing him deemed unavailable until his injury has been assessed.

After being sent for a scan on a potential hamstring issue, Schumacher has revealed the length of his absence is still unknown, with the former Premier League side playing a waiting game over the former Liverpool man’s fitness.

“We haven’t got any new news on injuries from Saturday’s game,” Schumacher told the Bolton News.

“Everything is good. We had a few kicks and Will Forrester got a nice gash on his lip but otherwise there is nothing else which is going to worry us.

“We still won’t have George Johnston because we haven’t had the results of his scan yet. He’s the only injury concern we have got at the moment.”

Bolton Wanderers squad depth helps Steven Schumacher lead play-off charge

While the loss of Johnston isn’t ideal for Wanderers, the flexibility and depth Schumacher has in his squad means any absences can be dealt with right now, with the only long-term issues being Kyle Dempsey, Victor Adeboyejo and Ricardo Santos.

A change in system from a back three to a back four against the Brewers saw Alex Murphy fill in on the left-hand side, while Will Forrester returned in the heart of the backline.

With plenty of players at his disposal, Schumacher is spoilt for choice when it comes to putting quality on the pitch right now, with the Wanderers boss happy with his options heading into the run-in, with a play-off place theirs for the taking after their recent run of form.

He continued: “As the head coach you want to be able to have a full-strength team that you can pick from and that might give you a better chance of getting the result that you want. We're in good form at the moment, and the players who have been playing have been doing a good job.

“I just keep saying the lads who have been coming on to the pitch off the bench have been excellent as well. We need to continue that, we want to continue this form, keep trying to pick results up where we can and see where it takes us

“We have a way of working as a coaching staff and we just try and keep everything the same. When you're in good form like this you can't get carried away and come off it, you have to keep your standards really high. That's us as the staff and the players.

“We have been doing well, we have been getting some good results but we have to remember what it took for us to get those results and just keep doing it.

“So that's the message to the boys, stay at it, keep pushing each other all the time.”