Cambridge United captain Greg Taylor facing lengthy lay-off from injury suffered in draw with Plymouth Argyle

Greg Taylor faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering an injury in Cambridge United's 1-1 draw with Plymouth on Tuesday night.

The 31-year-old captain fell awkwardly in a challenge in the 27th minute and had to be stretchered off.

He went to Addenbrooke's Hospital yesterday (Wednesday) for provisional scans, and will return next week to see a specialist.

At a press call this morning (Thursday), United head coach Mark Bonner did not want to speculate on how long the skipper could be sidelined, but admitted that it did look like being an extended lay-off.

“We haven't got major details because he didn't go for his x-ray or scan on Tuesday evening because it would have been a very, very long wait into the early hours,” explained Bonner.

“He came back with us yesterday, went to Addenbrooke's for his scan and x-ray and he will have a follow-up with a specialist next week but it is as bad as we thought it might be to begin with so it will be a fairly significant of time that he will be out for which fundamentally is bad for the team and bad for us losing the captain and the leader of the team.

“He is a really important part of what we are and what we achieved last year.

“It's really disappointing for him because he worked his socks off last year and played every single game to help us get to the challenge we are in now. To be unable to play in the level for a period of time now is a really tough one for him to take.

“We send him our best, will catch up with him later this week and give him all the support he needs to get himself back.”

But Bonner added: “Until we get the final, real detail of what it is, I don't really want to speculate and go into too much detail on time scales or type of injury because I would be making it up really at the moment and speculating, which isn't probably the right thing to do.

“As soon as we get the full report on that early next week, then we can confirm that, but the certain thing is that it will be fairly long-term and and we won't see him for a while.”

Taylor started all 46 league games as United finished second in League Two last season, earning promotion to the third tier of the English pyramid for the first time in 19 years - he only missed two matches in the EFL Trophy, when he was an unused substitute.

And he has proved an invaluable player for the U's since joining in June 2013.

“He has been here forever and so he knows inside out what we are and, personally as the head coach, he has been class for me since I took the job because what you want from your senior players and main leaders in the team is that you don't feel like every decision has to be made by you, that they can take on responsibility and that's a big part of our values,” said Bonner.

“Players can make their own choices, make their own decisions, manage their own dressing room to some extent and he takes a lot of that away from the coaching staff, and he does a great job in that sense.

“He will still be able to do that from less of a playing role for the period that he is out.

“It will add a little bit of responsibility on to other people, but I don't think that is an issue. I think we saw that on Tuesday, the players really stepped up when they needed to.

“Obviously, on the side of Greg, we've got to support him and make sure he gets himself back as soon as possible and to full fitness, which will take a bit of time but we will get there.

“From our side, we need to get the most out of the players that we've got and obviously add to a position that we've already been a little bit light in.

“We've been working at that for some time now to try to add, but obviously the centre-back position has been an issue for us in the last couple of weeks and we're working hard to try to add something for the weekend.

“We will keep working on that, and from our side as a team we will have to fill in the void that Greg leaves us on the pitch firstly, but also in terms of his character and personality.

“Knowing the group we’ve got, we will be able to do that.”

Bonner added: “Fundamentally, I’m just really disappointed for him because the part he played last year was major.

“He played in every single game, he really helped us get here and, like the rest of us, he has been really enjoying this start to the season and the challenges that were there.

“For him to miss that for a period of time after he has worked so hard for it, is a real shame, but that time will come again for him, and we’ve got to get him ready for that.”

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