ROTHERHAM United striker Josh Kayode’s injury jinx has struck again,

ROTHERHAM United striker Josh Kayode’s injury jinx has struck again, with the 24-year-old facing another lengthy layoff.
The 24-year-old left the Millers in the summer on a season-long loan at fellow League One club Shrewsbury Town after missing nearly two years.

Only four games into his new club’s season, the forward has been sidelined with a calf injury and is unlikely to return before December. Shrews manager Paul Hurst, a former Rotherham left-back, says the player has taken the blow hard. “There is a person there, an individual, a human being, who is desperate to be able to get out on the pitch and play football,” he was saying. “We understood there was a danger involved when we took Josh. His body has failed him down, and he has been unable to demonstrate his potential. “It is easy in one sense to get angry and frustrated about it, but if you put yourself in his shoes and think about how it must be for him, it cannot be easy at all.”

Kayode was a highly regarded talent as he progressed through the Millers’ junior system. However, he never really established himself as a first-team contender. Under Paul Warne, he went on loan to MK Dons early in the 2022/23 season, only to need knee surgery and then another operation when he returned to AESSEAL New York due to quad injuries.

Last season, then-manager Matt Taylor permitted him to join Carlisle United on loan, but he injured his shoulder two games in and was then sidelined with a calf problem.

 

The Cumbrians’ management team was enraged at the end of his time with them when he declared himself unavailable for selection because he did not want to risk breaking down again.

Hurst continued, “It is obviously not the news that we or the player want.

“We will be giving him assistance and pushing him hard in the gym so that when he returns, he is in the greatest form possible and can get back up to speed quickly.

“I suffered one long-term injury near the conclusion of my career and missed very little other than that. I can only image how difficult it would be to be unable to pursue your passions.

“I believe we have to sympathize with it, but, of course, it does not help us in terms of attempting to

Get points and strive to win games.” Kayode appeared nine times for MK and four times for Carlisle, totaling only 23 appearances since August 22.

In his four appearances for the Shrews, he has scored once, in a 3-3 Carabao Cup home draw against Notts County.

The former Republic of Ireland youth international is in the final year of his Millers contract and is scheduled to leave the club in May.

Meanwhile, Georgie Kelly, a former Rotherham United player, is another centre forward in the treatment room.

The 27-year-old, who is still looking for his first goal since leaving New York to join Carlisle last January, has been sidelined for three months due to a calf injury.