DUTCH defender Dave Nieskens is facing a spell on the sidelines after injuring his knee in Barrow AFC’s 1-0 defeat at Tranmere.

The Bluebirds must keep their fingers crossed over the severity of the problem after Nieskens was hurt while tracking back near his own goal-line.

He twisted awkwardly trying to track his man and immediately went to ground clutching his right knee midway through the first half.

Despite receiving attention from AFC physio Matt Butterfield and briefly returning to the field of play, the 23-year-old centre-half broke down again and had to be substituted.

He was seen on crutches on the touchline after the game, with Barrow interim manager Micky Moore not optimistic about a short recovery period.

“Dave is going to need to go for a scan on Monday, but it doesn’t look very good at this time,” said a clearly concerned Moore.

“He’s going to be on crutches and he’s definitely going to be out for a period of time, there’s no doubt about that.”

He added: “He’s twisted badly, that’s the diagnosis at the moment. As for how long he will be out for, he’s on crutches at the moment, and it’s definitely going to be in the longer term – it’s not going to be seven to 10 days, or 14 days, that’s for sure.

“We’ll get it scanned on Monday, wait for the results, and then we will know a lot more."

Nieskens was replaced by Thierry Audel, who made an unexpected return from a concussion picked up against Maidenhead two weeks ago.

The Frenchman was passed fit to play at Tranmere, and Moore was happy to see the experienced defender come through 70 minutes with no ill-effects.

“Matt will be assessing him, but the early signs are he has come through it with no problems, all okay,” added the AFC interim boss.