TOM Walker faces up to 10 days on the sidelines after limping out of Wanderers’ midweek win at Oldham.

The young midfielder pulled up after just 10 minutes at Boundary Park with a hip strain and looks likely to miss both tomorrow’s trip to Scunthorpe United and Tuesday’s game at Port Vale.

Neil Lennon has managed to avoid any serious injury problems during the summer so far but still has a handful of players who are feeling their way back to full fitness.

The Whites boss was pleased to welcome Josh Vela back into the starting line-up in midweek and could get a further boost if Mark Davies comes into the equation tomorrow after sitting out the last two games with a swollen knee. Zach Clough is also a possibility after nursing a thigh strain, although he may be held back until after the weekend as a precaution.

Liam Trotter, Oscar Threlkeld, Emile Heskey and David Wheater could be back next week, while Max Clayton is pencilled in to take some part in the final friendly, at home to Charlton Athletic, on July 31.

Lennon was encouraged by the victory over Oldham and is looking forward to strengthening his squad further with the return of some of his injured players in the final few games before the big kick-off against Derby County.

“All that work over in Austria has set us up nicely,” he added. “We’ve got some quality to come back into this team, and Tim Ream as well who’s been over with the US, so that is very pleasing.

“We’re building towards where we want to be, getting that little bit more experience back.”