SWINDON Town winger Rushian Hepburn-Murphy is expected to miss the next 10 weeks of action after picking up a tear in his hamstring tendon against Grimsby Town last weekend.

Following a significant period without playing due to two hip surgeries before joining Swindon, Hepburn-Murphy signed on deadline day and went on to make his Robins debut against Plymouth Argyle in the EFL Trophy three weeks later – netting a consolation for the hosts late on.

With 30 minutes of action behind him, the 24-year-old was sent on after an hour of Swindon’s 2-1 win against Grimsby but lasted just 15 minutes before being forced off with the injury.

In his pre-Northampton Town press conference, Lindsey shared the disappointing news on Hepburn-Murphy.

He said: “Unfortunately, he’s got a tear to his hamstring tendon. It’s not great news on the expected time out either, it could be up to 10 weeks.

“It’s quite a significant tear in his hamstring, so we’re really disappointed for him. We do back him in terms of rehabilitating, and we back our medical staff, so hopefully that 10 weeks might turn into eight or seven.”

Given the rapid forward’s almost-immediate injury after returning, many Town fans wondered whether Hepburn-Murphy had been rushed back too quickly and asked to do too much when he wasn’t quite ready.

Lindsey said he would have agreed with that school of thought if the injury had not happened so quickly after the player came on against Grimsby.

Lindsey said: “He came on for half an hour against Plymouth (EFL Trophy) and did really well, and that made me put him on the bench against Grimsby.

“When he came on the pitch, I think it was just down to the fact his body is deconditioned to playing football at pace – maybe that had an effect on why he picked up the injury.

“I’d agree that we could have prevented it if he’d done his injury 20 or 30 minutes in, but the fact that he did it within a minute of coming on makes me think otherwise.

“That tells me – after he had his half an hour on Tuesday night – that he should be ready to go again on a Saturday. But again, had he gone on for another half an hour and he’d done it then I’d agree.

“But he could have done it in training, for argument’s sake, four days after playing. I don’t think there’s anything different we could have done. I think it’s just bad luck, basically.”