Dean Gerken has been ruled out for at least a month after suffering a shoulder problem in the defeat at Birmingham last weekend. 

The Town ’keeper picked up the injury in the last minute at St Andrew’s as he dived at the feet of James Vaughan. 

“Gerks has seen a specialist in London and had a scan and he has suffered a partially torn ligament in his right shoulder,” Town physio Matt Byard told the Club website. 

“He will be reviewed again in two weeks and we are looking at a return at the earliest in four weeks if there are no setbacks in that time. It could be longer.”

Michael Crowe is on loan at Braintree and can’t be recalled before February 7, with Jonathan Henly likely to be on the bench as cover for Bart Bialkowski for Blues’ next game, at home to Reading on February 2.