Returning Doncaster Rovers defender James Maxwell may not be risked before end of the season

Left-back Maxwell has not played since February due to a tear in his quadricep muscle, which he suffered during a training session.

The former Glasgow Rangers youngster had established himself as a regular fixture in head coach Danny Schofield's starting XI, with Tommy Rowe and more recently Luke Molyneux deputising in his absence.

Schofield, who was missing 11 players for last weekend's defeat to Newport because of injury, said: “He was on the pitch for a couple of days (last week).

"Whether we will risk him from now until the end of the season, I’m not 100 per cent on that.

"It’s an injury which he could potentially suffer a recurrence of, so we have to be really careful with that.”

Scot Maxwell is the only Doncaster player who could return for Saturday’s visit of Colchester United, Schofield confirmed.

Colchester, who are nineteenth and unbeaten in nine matches, could leapfrog Rovers in the League 2 table with a win.

Doncaster were tenth when the U’s earned a shock 3-0 win over them in November to climb out of the relegation zone.

Schofield’s sixteenth-placed side will go into this weekend’s clash looking to end a dreadful run of nine games without a win.

The atmosphere at the Eco-Power Stadium once again turned nasty last weekend as Doncaster let another lead slip to come away empty-handed – the third time they have dropped points from a winning position in four games.

Angry fans made Schofield and chairman David Blunt the main target of their abuse.