Doncaster Rovers boss Paul Dickov has revealed that centre-half Jamie McCombe will miss the first "two or three months" of the season with a back injury.
The 30-year-old, who is reported to have suffered with the stress fracture for the majority of the last campaign, is expected to see a specialist this week.
"Jamie is having problems with his back and he'll be out for two or three months. It's a long-standing injury he's got and to be fair to Jamie he's tried to play through it the last season or two," Dickov told the club's official website.
"But when he came in and we had a look at it we decided it's better for him to get it fixed. He'll be in a cast for a few weeks and we'll be lucky if he's back within two months. He's had a stress fracture of his back since his Huddersfield days which he's managed to play through, but if you manage injuries for that long it's difficult to do yourself justice.
"Jamie's done fantastically well to play last season but we feel as a staff that we're better getting him 100% fit. If he misses two months he's still got eight months of the season to look forward to."
Doncaster open their Championship campaign against Blackpool on Saturday.
