Brian Barry-Murphy to make Eoghan O’Connell decision ahead of Rochdale v MK Dons

Posted Monday, February 08, 2021 by PA

Rochdale manager Brian Barry-Murphy has a decision to make over captain Eoghan O’Connell when MK Dons visit on Tuesday.

The defender made his return from a hamstring injury in Saturday’s 2-0 loss at home to Sky Bet League One promotion hopefuls Charlton.

It was O’Connell’s first appearance in a month but despite completing the 90 minutes, his manager conceded afterwards Dale would be cautious with the skipper’s fitness.

Jack Vale and Conor Grant made their debuts at the weekend and Conor Shaughnessy will hope for his first outing for the club in midweek, but Paul McShane (calf) remains absent.

MK Dons will be boosted by the availability of deadline-day loan signing Will Grigg after the terms of his loan meant he missed the 2-2 draw with parent club Sunderland last time out.

Boss Russell Martin will be without Louis Thompson for the foreseeable future after he picked up another hamstring injury, but Andrew Surman made his comeback off the bench against Sunderland following a spell on the sidelines with the same problem.

Jay Bird and Kieran Agard (both knee) are long-term absentees, but Jordan Houghton is set to be back in contention this month following surgery at the start of December.

David Kasumu (hamstring) is another closing in on a return, but the clash with Rochdale is likely to come too soon for him.