'Huge loss' as Butterworth out for four months

Danny Butterworth has played 10 league games for Swindon so far this season

Swindon attacking midfielder Danny Butterworth is facing four months on the sidelines after rupturing his hamstring tendon.

Butterworth suffered the injury during the 4-0 defeat by Accrington Stanley last Saturday and is due to have surgery on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old has made 10 appearances this campaign so far,

"The good news is it's not [all] come off the bone - unfortunately for Danny one of the three strands has completely ruptured, the other two are still intact," manager Ian Holloway told BBC Radio Wiltshire.

"It could have been a lot worse," he added.

"Four months it's a lot, huge, to lose someone who can dribble with it, so bitterly disappointed for Danny."

Swindon are second in the table despite picking up just one point from their past two games with the defeat to Accrington followed by a 2-2 draw with Notts County on Tuesday.

They host Colchester on Saturday, but Holloway said that as well as Butterworth they remain without Ryan Tafazolli, James Ball and Adam Murphy.

Tafazolli returns to training next week after missing the County match, while Ball and Murphy have only played twice this season so far, but will be available for selection next week.