JAY McEveley has been ruled out of Swindon Town’s trip to Crewe Alexandra this weekend due to a recurring knee injury.

The full-back only returned from a four-match suspension for the 1-1 draw with Crawley Town on Tuesday night but he has aggravated an existing problem and will not be available to manager Mark Cooper this weekend.

McEveley has struggled with knee issues for several months since undergoing surgery in December 2012 and the left-back has only managed to make four appearances since the turn of the year due to a combination of his ban and injury.

Troy Archibald-Henville will be assessed later today to determine whether or not he is fit to feature at Crewe after being rested in midweek.

“It was always going to be a case of managing Jay, Troy and Tijane.

“They’re not able to train every day and they’re not able to play every game,” said Cooper.

“Yes, it’s a worry, but we knew that at the start of the season.”

Ryan Mason misses out again with an ankle problem, Nile Ranger has been ruled out for the season with a torn hamstring, and Alex Pritchard has still not recovered from a medial ligament strain.

Massimo Luongo returns to the matchday squad at Gresty Road after being rested for the visit of Crawley but Grant Hall remains at least two weeks away from a return to fitness with his calf injury.

“Pritchard won’t feature at the weekend, Mason won’t feature, obviously Nile Ranger won’t feature, Jay McEveley won’t feature. We’ll see how Troy trains,” said Cooper.

“The boys who played (on Tuesday) have really not done a lot.

“They had a day off yesterday (Wednesday) and today has been really light. At the moment the training is just about keeping them fresh and loose.

“It’s not about the legwork, it’s more tactical and trying to make sure we are better than we were the other night.”