BARNSLEY head coach Conor Hourihane has eased fears of a second long lay-off this season for Marc Roberts after he came off in Tuesday night's heavy EFL Trophy defeat at Port Vale with a groin issue.

The experienced defender was stretchered off in the 5-0 loss at Vale Park and will definitely miss the weekend FA Cup tie at Peterborough United - although he was scheduled to sit out the trip to the Fens in any case due to the Reds’ schedule.

Providing an update for Roberts, who missed the first chunk of the season after injuring his thigh/hip on the opening day at Plymouth Argyle, Hourihane said: "He's been in the last couple of days and (is) just being assessed.

"It's not as bad as feared when he was taken off on a stretcher; you'd think that would have summed up the night pretty fine really...

Barnsley's Marc Roberts, second left, celebrates scoring his winning goal in added time in the FA Cup first-round tie against York City with captain Luca Connell, right. Photo: Tony Johnson.

placeholder image — Barnsley's Marc Roberts, second left, celebrates scoring his winning goal in added time in the FA Cup first-round tie against York City with captain Luca Connell, right. Photo: Tony Johnson.

"So I think he's recovered a lot better than what we kind of expected and we're hoping over the next couple of days that he can keep improving and it won't be anything long term.

"He definitely won't be available for the weekend and he wasn't going to be available anyway. I wasn't going to play him because he needed that rest after Tuesday anyway. Fingers crossed he will be in the mix for Lincoln.

"He just felt it (his groin) on his spring back for the third goal. He didn't feel anything pop, he just felt like a little bit of a strain, a little bit of a soreness in there.

"We don't think that it's a huge grade which is going to keep him out for four to six weeks.

Barnsley head coach Conor Hourihane. (Picture: Tony Johnson)

"We're hoping that if he continues in the right way over the next couple of days, that it's just going to settle down nicely.”

Loanee Nathanael Ogbeta, who was not involved at Vale with a slightly injury issue, won't be involved this weekend, while Josh Earl will miss out again.

Hourihane added: "He (Ogbeta) picked up something in training a couple of days before the Port Vale game.

"So he was being assessed. Will he be okay for Saturday? Probably not. So he's another one to the injury list.

"Other than that, really, we're okay. Josh Earl will still miss Saturday, but we're hoping that he'll be okay for Lincoln.

"So look, the squad selection and the team selection on Saturday will definitely have a thought process of Lincoln and Leyton Orient, for sure.

"We know that the two league games Tuesday and Saturday are really, really important. Not to say that Saturday isn't, by the way. We still want a reaction from Tuesday without a doubt.”