Peterborough United suffer fresh injury blow

Posh were beaten 2-1 at Brisbane Road and are now without a win in their last five League One matches, but to compound the disappointment skipper Johnston limped off after half an hour.

No other players were around Johnston when he went down clutching his leg and he then struggled to walk off the pitch.

Johnston has started the club’s last 16 matches as a stand-in left-back following injuries to Harley Mills and Jacob Mendy. Fortunately for Posh, Mills returned for his lay-off just in time to replace Johnston on Saturday, making his first appearance after almost three months out.

Posh will now assess the extent of the injury that Johnston suffered to his calf.

Posh boss Luke Williams said: “He felt a shooting pain in his calf muscle and it was too excruciating for him to even attempt to play on. I know he would have played on if he could. We need to get to the bottom of that in the next two days.

“Carl has been outstanding. His performances have been of a very high level and he is a real strong character for the group. It is a blow.

“It is almost an entirely different line-up to the one I picked in my first game and that wasn’t that long ago. We have to make the best of it we possibly can.

“I need to try and lead the group through choppy waters. I have lots and faith and confidence in them and we just continue now and look forward to Tuesday night.

“It was great to see Harley back on the pitch. I hope he can get back up to speed quickly. He will improve steadily and get back into his rhythm after being away for a while. He did okay.”

Posh host third from bottom Rotherham United on Tuesday (7.4pm kick off).