Mansfield Town hoping to have Danny Rose back by April

The striker had his jaw broken in two places at Newport almost two weeks ago and has been on a liquid diet after having metal plates put into his face.

But Stags manager David Flitcroft is still hopeful Rose will be back in time for the potentially vital final games.

However, there was also bad news on Hayden White’s recovery from a broken leg after an infection setback.

“With Danny we just have to make sure his training programme is non-contact. He will come into contact in maybe four to five weeks time,” said Flicroft.

“The food intake is the problem at the moment.

“It’s about getting the required food and supplementation into him so he’s got the energy to train and sustain his muscle mass and his body in a good place. We are working on balancing that at the moment.

“Because it’s a facial injury that won’t affect his training performances after that. He will be able to train.

“Then it has to be non-contact and have to design invasion games that have zones that don’t allow him to come under any contact so you don’t undo the surgery that has been done.

“We have to make sure he is going to be fit when he comes back for some key, vitally important games.”

On White, he added: “Hayden had a complication with the surgery, but he’s had that dealt with now.

“He picked up a bit of an infection from the surgery. It’s taken his recovery time back a little bit.”