WREXHAM defender Lee Roche is hoping that a specialist will get to the bottom of the hernia problem that has blighted his season.
In his second spell with the Dragons after joining the club last summer, the former Manchester United man has already had one operation, but he broke down again in January following a run of 11 matches.
And the 25-year-old is feeling extremely frustrated after a hospital scan last week revealed no obvious cause for his continued discomfort.
Yesterday he said: "I'm seeing a hernia specialist in Shrewsbury this evening and hope-fully he will be able to come up with some answers.
"It's annoying that nobody has so far identified what's causing it."
Manager Denis Smith was not at the club's Colliers Park training ground yesterday, instead attending a funeral in Stoke, but assistant manager Kevin Russell said Roche's misfortune was not an isolated case.
"You always expect to pick up your fair share of niggling injuries but we've had to put up with a few bad ones this season," he said. "Apart from Lee, we've got Jon Walters out for a couple of months with a fractured cheekbone and Lee McEvilly is the same with his foot injury."
In addition to the three long-term injured, Wrexham are resigned to being without captain Darren Ferguson in the coming weeks, even though he is making good progress in his recovery from a longstanding hip problem.
The midfielder is likely to be banned and fined by an FAW disciplinary committee this week following his verbal assault on referee Jonathan Moss immediately after the 2-1 home defeat by Leyton Orient last month.
"We have got a lot of games coming up and, in view of the injury situation, suspensions are the last thing we need," added Russell. "But we'll wait to see what happens and then we'll deal with it."
It's not the first time Ferguson has been hauled before the FAW, but Russell is hoping that any punishment will be at the lower end of the sanctions available.
"I've had a look at the referee's report and it doesn't seem that bad," he said.
"Things go on after games and things are said in the heat of the moment, but I've heard and seen a lot worse during the course of my career so hopefully, it shouldn't be that bad."
Wrexham have a reserve team match against Burnley at Buckley tomorrow, which will see the return from suspension of defender Dave Bayliss. Utility man Alex Smith, too, is likely to be given a run-out but neither Ferguson nor ankle injury victim Dean Bennett are expected to be involved.
