Braintree Town manager Danny Cowley is hoping that it will be weeks rather than months before Matt Fry is back in action for the Iron.

Fry suffered a nasty-looking knee injury late in their 0-0 draw against Tranmere Rovers last weekend and needed lengthy treatment on the pitch before being stretchered off.

It was feared that it may even be a season-ending injury for the 24-year-old Iron defender, who had only joined from Concord Rangers over the summer, but Cowley is hoping that that isn’t the case.

He said: “It can take a while for injuries like this to calm down but we’re hoping that it’s medial ligament damage rather than cruciate.

“It’s going to be weeks rather than days for him to recover, but we’re quite hopeful.

“We will have to let it settle down a bit more, but Matt is in good spirits.

“It never looks good when you see a player stretchered off needing gas and air, but hopefully we can get Matt back as we can’t afford any more long-term injuries in a small squad.”