TOWN midfielder Michael Collins is facing a battle to be fit for the end-of-season matches.

The 24-year-old's finger injury is worse than first thought and he has no chance of figuring in the upcoming matches, starting with tomorrow night's clash against Millwall at the Galpharm, when the visitors will have around 1,000 fans backing their cause.

"When the surgeon went in and operated on Michael he found the problem to be worse than we thought - the finger was shattered," explained manager Lee Clark.

"He won't be available for the next few weeks, maybe until the final matches of the season, and it just shows the character of the lad when he carried on playing with the injury at Brentford.

"Basically the finger was shattered, it wasn't a straightforward break, and yet Michael carried on playing when his finger was in two bits. We are just hoping now his recovery is as quick as can possibly be expected."