Jerome Okimo has joined the ever-growing list of Stevenage casualties after it was confirmed by the club that he will require an operation to repair a torn medial meniscus suffered in the warm-up before their Boxing Day defeat at Crawley Town.

The defender is now the 12th first-team player unavailable to boss Teddy Sheringham with long-term absentees Steven Schumacher and David McAllister (knee injuries) heading a list that also includes the likes of Dean Wells, Adam Marriott, Chris Whelpdale, Dean Parrett and Ben Kennedy and chairman Phil Wallace is baffled by the situation.

Wallace said: “I have been here 16 years and I don’t remember ever having 12 first team players unavailable. Most are from muscle tears – we have looked carefully at every injury but there is no consistent pattern, other than bad luck.

“This revolving door of injuries makes it difficult to develop a consistent side and hits the club particularly hard financially. We obviously can’t just play a team of inexperienced youth team players, so we are forced into the loan market.

“Fortunately Teddy Sheringham is well known in the game and can access players from clubs we have not previously been able to work with at prices that reflect our difficult financial position.

“However, on the positive side this does provide an opportunity for young players to take a shirt and make it their own for a while.”