Reading boss Noel Hunt faces a selection dilemma for Saturday's visit of Stevenage following the controversial sending off of defender Michael Stickland.
21-year-old Stickland started the last two matches following Amadou Mbengue's season-ending knee injury, but in Tuesday's 2-0 win over Wrexham the central defender saw red.
Booked early in the first half, he was given his second yellow card for what was deemed to be time-wasting with 15 minutes remaining, although it was a decision deemed poor by both Hunt and Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson.
Unable to appeal the decision due to the nature of the two yellow cards, Stickland will miss Saturday's visit of Stevenage.
Harlee Dean came off the bench on Tuesday but after four weeks injured is unlikely to last a whole 90 minutes. Meanwhile, Louie Holzman has only returned to light training following a damaged eye socket.
This leaves the side very short on central defenders, as Hunt alluded to on Tuesday evening.
"We have lost a few over the last week but we have a few we are trying to push back. We don’t want to shove them in because with the injuries they have, it’ll take a moment in the game to redo them. We have to make sure everyone comes through tonight okay, see where we are with Sticks tomorrow and assess the squad.
"He [Dean] has been out for four and a half weeks. He trained for three or four days. We had good news with Louie, he doesn’t need surgery and as soon as he feels okay, which he does now, he can go into light training."
(Image: ©Jason Dawson)
Another concern on Tuesday was the impressive 17-year-old Andre Garcia, who was on the end of a big tackle late on which left the teenager limping.
"It was a contact [injury]- both of them went down. I don’t know why the referee doesn’t blow the whistle; he’s waiting for something to happen.
"The two boys were down and both were hurt, just blow the whistle. Indecisiveness frustrates me in those moments, it’s about the players. They’re not faking it, they both went down the say way and one has landed on the other and rolled an ankle or something.
"He’s okay hopefully, just a contact and he can run it off."
