Barnsley are expected to welcome Max Watters back to their squad for Tuesday’s trip to Northampton Town but will be without suspended captain Luca Connell while goalkeeper Joe Gauci could also miss the match.

Aston Villa loanee Gauci came off with a hip injury in Saturday’s win at Rotherham United and was replaced by debutant Jackson Smith. Head coach Darrell Clarke said he would ‘keep my cards close to my chest’ on whether Gauci could play at Northampton.

Clarke told the Chronicle: “Joe has done pretty well and we will see how he is tomorrow night. But I would have no qualms about putting Jackson straight in. He’s got great feet, he’s a great kicker and he’s improving all the time.”

Striker Watters has been out for a month since hurting his ankle at Wycombe. Clarke said: “We’re still hoping he will be back for this game. You want the forward-thinking options. Max has had a frustrating season with a few injuries. It’s good to have him back. He’s got to get through training this morning (Monday) but hopefully we don’t foresee too many problems with that. Hopefully he should be involved tomorrow night.”

Midfielder Connell collected his tenth booking of the season in Rotherham so will miss the trip to Northampton and the home game with Lincoln on Saturday due to a two-game ban.

Clarke said: “It’s a blow but we have Kelechi (Nwakali) who is performing well. We always knew Luca was close to that mark. We’ve got five games in two weeks. Luca will miss a couple but we have ample competition to make sure we get through that. (Josh) Benson came on there other day and did well.”

Wing-back Barry Cotter has not played since New Year’s Day due to an ankle problem which required surgery.

Clarke said: “It’s very doubtful that Barry will play again this season. We’ll push him as much as we possibly can but it certainly wouldn’t be until late April, I would have thought.”

Left wing-back Georgie Gent has not started any of the last four matches, and was not in the squad on Saturday. The Reds brought in Neil Farrugia and Dexter Lembikisa in the winter transfer window.

“I went for different options on the bench but Georgie will be involved tomorrow night.

“He’s fighting as everybody is to get into the starting 11. He’s a great kid who is learning all the time. We will keep improving him. There is competition with Dexter coming in and Neil coming in. Neil is finding a little bit of rhythm and we have good options in the wing-back position.”

Defender Donovan Pines will be out for several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained against Huddersfield last week while forward Fabio Jalo is not due to back until the end of March.