SWINDON Town midfielder Jordan Lyden has ruptured his Achilles and could miss the rest of the season through injury, according to head coach Ben Garner.

The 26-year-old went down in the second half of Town's 2-1 defeat to Exeter City on Saturday holding his heel before trying to carry on after treatment.

However, just minutes later, the Australian sat down once again unable to carry on. In Monday's pre-Tranmere Rovers press conference, it was revealed that Lyden would miss "months" of the season due to the injury.

Asked for an update on the combative midfielder, Garner said: "Unfortunately, it's bad news with Jordan. He's ruptured his Achilles.

"That's a huge blow, he's had a lot of injury set-backs in his career and unfortunately this is another one.

"We're all bitterly disappointed for him, and we'll make sure we do everything we can now to support him on and off the pitch.

"At the time on Saturday, he thought he got kicked, he thought studs went down the back of his leg and he actually tried to carry on which is remarkable considering the injury he had.

"But he'd ruptured his Achilles, that pain he felt wasn't a kick, it was the tendon going.

"He's worked so hard this season to get himself in really good shape, probably the best place he's been in physically, and he'd got back into the team over the last couple of months.

"He would have been a big part of that for the rest of the season. We're disappointed from a team perspective, but more so from Jordan's perspective."

Meanwhile, there were mixed reports for other members of Garner's squad. Positive updates came back in regard to Jack Payne and Josh Davison, although Dion Conroy's heel problem remains unclear.

Garner said: "Payne is just building his training now, so I would like to think he will come back into the squad this week.

"Tranmere may be too soon, but I would hope he would come back into the squad for Saturday. We've got to see how he goes and how he reacts to the increase in training load.

"Dion is having a scan on Monday evening, and we'll know more after that. He won't be involved against Tranmere, but we'll know more after the scan.

"[His heel] was sore after the game, it wasn't an injury he picked up during the game. He's had previous problems with that Achilles, so we'll manage it, he'll have the scan, and that will give us the information we need.

"It's good news on Josh - it's the same as before, it's just a neural thing that's tightening.

"If we get a couple of clear weeks with Josh, we're very confident we can sort that out. It's just a case of managing him in the mean time."