Shrewsbury boss Gareth Ainsworth was cautiously optimistic about defender Morgan Feeney’s condition after he was taken off on a stretcher in the 1-0 defeat to Stockport.
Ainsworth confirmed the 25-year-old had been taken to hospital after receiving extensive treatment on the pitch during a 10-minute break in play, having suffered a neck injury after a collision with an opposition player.
“He has gone to hospital as a precaution,” Ainsworth said. “He had a crack on his neck, either in the air or when he landed.
“We are not quite sure watching the video but there has been an issue with his neck, so obviously anything with that you cannot be too careful with.
“I want to thank the Stockport medical team and my medical team. I thought everyone worked exceptionally well, really quickly.
“We’re hoping that there is good news and that Morgan is fine and he does not have to be kept in hospital or anything.
“I think early signs are positive but I don’t want to be the bearer of any news that is not right, but as far as I can see he came off conscious. He was moving his hands and his feet, so I am hoping it is just a precaution.
“Some things overshadow everything, and that is one of those things. Our thoughts and prayers are with Morgs and hopefully he makes a full recovery.”
The game itself had few chances for either side but Oliver Norwood’s spectacular first-half free-kick proved a moment of magic in what was otherwise a fairly low-key affair.
The former Sheffield United and Brighton midfielder struck an excellent curling effort on 37 minutes to hand Dave Challinor’s Stockport a third straight win, a result which cemented their place in the Sky Bet League One play-off places.
Challinor said: “I knew that tonight we’d have to be technically good but we weren’t, we were sloppy but we scored a goal that was worthy of winning any game and just did enough.
“You will have to grind out wins over the course of the season but you’ve always got to make the right decisions – and that isn’t always play it back and smash it forward, we’ve got to be better than that.
“Shrewsbury have been really good since Gareth has come in at staying in games. They obviously tried to nullify things in the first half and knew they’d probably maintain that until they could have a go at it in the last 20 minutes or so.
“Best wishes to Morgan Feeney also, who got taken off. It’s not nice when you see something like that but hopefully it’s nothing too serious.”