JONATHAN Obika is set to be out for up to five weeks with a strained ankle capsule he picked up at Bury on Saturday.

Town boss Mark Cooper was initially hopeful the striker would just miss last night’s draw with Port Vale, but the injury is worse than it first appeared and the prognosis is a rather long lay-off.

Obika’s absence leaves Town with Michael Smith and Miles Storey as their only available forwards, with the latter named in a matchday squad last night for the first time since the 2013/14 season.

Smith, who told BBC Wiltshire he was happy to stay at the County Ground yesterday, does not look like he will be moving on to Barnsley any time soon.

The absence of Obika and Jermaine Hylton for a prolonged period means the Geordie hitman will be carefully looked after by Town.

Even more so now Cooper has revealed the length of the latest injury to one of his strikers.

“He’s got a sprain or a strain to his ankle. He’s strained his ankle capsule, so it could be two weeks or it could be five weeks. We’ll have to wait and see how he responds to treatment,” Cooper told the local media.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen (with regards to bringing in new players). We are light in the forward area, everyone knows that, so we are working hard to rectify that.

“There’s nothing pending at all.”

Storey is amongst the list of five names Town have made available for loan, along with Bradley Barry, James Brophy, Lee Marshall and Will Randall.

Given Swindon’s squad resources they would not all be allowed to leave at once, but Cooper is hoping to send them out in order to aid their progress in first team football.

“The thinking behind that is we have limited staff and time to devote to them, and we haven’t got an under 21s,” he added.

“They need to be going out and playing so they can develop.

“We wouldn’t do all five at once; we’re just seeing what interest there is.”

Storey has previously been touted around for a permanent move, with the club looking to recoup a fee for his services. It now appears their stance has softened and the former England Under 20 international would be allowed to go out on a temporary deal.

“We have to look after Miles,” Cooper explained. “We’ve got a duty to Miles as well to get him some games so that, if he does go out on loan and he fires and he does get really fit then we might get a fee for him.”