Sharp's season could be over

Sharp: Injury fear

Doncaster manager Sean O'Driscoll has admitted he would be surprised if Billy Sharp plays again this term.

The Rovers striker has been trying to battle through a hernia problem in recent weeks, but had to be substituted in Tuesday's 1-1 draw against Coventry.

It will not be clear how long Sharp might be sidelined for until further tests have been carried out, but O'Driscoll doubts whether he will return to action until next season.

"He's at the specialist," the Doncaster boss told his club's official website.

"They are going to assess his groin before they operate on the hernia. The prognosis is that he has torn his groin, so there would be no point in operating on the hernia.

"We'd need to wait until that has healed before he goes in for the surgery.

"The prognosis means that I would be very surprised if he played again this season, but we'll have to wait and see."

Gamble

Sharp has been a key performer at the Keepmoat Stadium this season and O'Driscoll admits it would be difficult to cope without him during the run-in.

He said: "It was always a case of fingers crossed and he wasn't moving particularly well before the incident happened and in the end it was quite an innocuous trod on the ball more than anything else.

"We always knew that it was a bit of a gamble and we've obviously not come out on top.

"If we had left it to Billy, he would have been the same. He felt okay in himself and admitted that once he warmed up, he had forgotten about it.

"It's unfortunate, but it has been a season of unfortunates. If this means that his season is over, then it would be a big blow for us."

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