McNulty and Smith face late checks ahead of Newport trip

McNulty had to come off during the interval against Portsmouth on Saturday after taking two blows to the head, while Smith missed out with a knee injury.

Boss John Still said: “We’ll wait until tomorrow (with McNulty) as with cuts we’ll have to look at that.

“He’s got to head a ball hasn’t he and we don’t want the cuts to open up. So we’ll look at that and see how that’s been.

“Jonathan Smith, we’ll also have a look at that tomorrow as I’m not really sure. He’s come back from that injury that he had (broken leg), got straight into it and got on with it, but its become a little bit sore.

“It’s not a problem and not something that long term, but just needs a rest with his knee.

“He may not be tomorrow but if he wasn’t, I’d be shocked if he wasn’t for the next game.”

Meanwhile, both Scott Griffiths and Mark Tyler are unlikely to feature as Still continued: “Scott needs a hernia, he can possibly play, but we’ve given him a rest to let it settle down.

“There’s a possible operation due in April, but the biggest thing is the soreness. Once again, we’ll have a look at him as well.

“He’s (Tyler) closer but not close enough, so we’ll wait on that as well.”

Both wingers Ryan Hall and Luke Rooney are back in training though as Still said: “Ryan came in and picked up a bit of an injury, he’s got over that now and I always felt he’d need a couple of weeks.

“Well we’re trying to get that couple of weeks in now, so he’ll be involved in a development game on Wednesday and hopefully he’s not that far away.

“Luke Rooney had a hernia and played a few development games, but I don’t think he’s quite up to fitness yet, so he shouldn’t be too long.”

There was some good news regarding midfielder Nathan Doyle who hasn’t played since suffering a knee injury against York on February 10 as Still added: “Doyle will pick up training this week. He’s just started light training, so hopefully this week we can push him right on and see where he is next week.

“Although he’ll probably need a week, he’s got fitness in him and will just need to top that up and sharpen up a little bit.”