PAUL Sturrock is praying for a quick resolution to Town's transfer embargo crisis after revealing it is fast becoming a health hazard to his injury-ravaged squad.

The County Ground chief revealed a number of his stars are playing through the pain barrier, with goalkeeper Phil Smith now a possible long-term absentee.

Smith will undergo a scan on his injured shoulder tomorrow but Sturrock is concerned that others will soon join him on a packed treatment table.

He said: "The embargo is a hindrance to us because one or two of the players could do with not training and resting to get rid of their injuries, but we can't do that.

"In the end that means they could be out long-term and it's not nice to think we could have that scenario.

"We had to force the goalie through a lot more than we wanted to in training this week and he's now looking long-term.

"Phil is getting a scan on Tuesday that will tell us the time frame, but it's not going to heal overnight.

"We don't have any back-up apart form a youth team goalie, so it's very difficult at this moment in time for us in what is an important area."

Saturday's 2-1 defeat at the hands of Doncaster Rovers was Town's second reverse in a row - the first time that has happened under Sturrock - and the manager knows they must buck the trend when Leyton Orient visit the County Ground tomorrow.

But with no end to the embargo in sight, the Swindon boss accepts his current squad must soldier on and make the best of a bad situation.

He said: "No-one has given me any indication that things will change.

"I would hope to think that there will be a decision of some sort taken this week, enabling us to at least know which direction we are going in.

"The timing of the embargo is the disappointing thing because it would have been nice to put some pressure on this team (Doncaster) today and give some boys a rest.

"Jerel (Ifil) is another one who needs a couple of weeks where he does absolutely nothing to get him over the hump, but that's not available to us at this minute."

And with high-flying Orient next up in Wiltshire, Sturrock is desperate to build some momentum for what promises to be a tough November ahead. With the players revealing last week that the League One play-offs are the minimum expectation come May, the manager is determined to rebuild confidence.

He said: "It's a difficult game for one reason - it could be three defeats in a row.

"Then you start to look at the bottom end of the table instead of the top end.

"We don't want to be looking over our shoulders, we want to be looking ahead.

"I believe this team are capable of what they desire, and what Swindon desires, but the only way you can do that is by winning football games.

"I just want to make sure that the play-offs are not too distant, and that's there's light at the end of the tunnel.

"If we have that it in our make-up who knows what we can achieve as the season unfolds. If we let ourselves down and finish up catching our tail with nothing to play for it could backfire on us. "