SWINDON Town defender Reece Devine is set to be out of action for up to four months with a serious hamstring injury sustained against Leyton Orient last weekend.

The former Manchester United trainee started his first league game of the campaign during Saturday’s 1-1 draw but lasted just 53 minutes prior to coming off.

After suffering with injury issues during the majority of his first year at the club, Devine is scheduled to return just in time for next term’s pre-season as the defender begins the second half of his two-year contract in Wiltshire.

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Morris admitted how upset he was at hearing the news but backed the 21-year-old to come back stronger.

He said: “Reece is really bad news. It’s a proper bad hamstring injury. You’re looking at 12 to 16 weeks.

“To say I’m devastated for the lad is an understatement. I’m really, really gutted for him.

“It’s not good for us as a whole, but from the human aspect and Reece himself, it’s really difficult to take. But it’s one that I’m sure he’ll come back stronger from.

“He’s had enough testing times with injury as it is, but hopefully this is the last one he’ll have to put up with.

“As far as anybody else coming back goes, we’ll maybe be able to involve Marcel Lavinier – depending on how he reacts to training on Friday.”

Joining Devine and Mathieu Baudry as players who will miss the rest of the season is Ellis Iandolo, as reported by Adver Sport after the game last Saturday.

The Town boss revealed the extent of Iandolo’s injury before touching on the progress made by Lavinier and Frazer Blake-Tracy in their respective recoveries.

Morris said: “Ellis is another real serious one. He’s got a fracture in his heel. We thought it was just a kick, but when they eventually got a scan, it was revealed he’d fractured it.

“That’s a huge blow. Again, another defender. Every time we speak, it feels like there’s another defender down.

“Hopefully, the light at the end of the tunnel with Lavinier is a bit of a turning point. And even seeing the progress that Frazer has made in the gym is good. He’s still a long way off still, but he’s made good progress.”

Meanwhile, in the ongoing saga involving would-be assistant coach Ed Brand, Morris shared a small but positive update.

He said: “There’s nothing official, but all the right people are trying to get it sorted and sorted swiftly. There’s not a deadline as such, but I think it’s closer than it’s ever been.”