Dom Hyam was relieved to avoid surgery and spend further time on the sidelines as he continues his recovery from injury.

The Blackburn Rovers defender came off at half-time against Millwall last month after picking up an ankle issue in the first half. It was clear from the early moments in the game that the stand-in captain was not moving freely.

Despite the obvious pain, Hyam soldiered on until half-time before making way. This was the second ankle injury the 27-year-old had sustained this calendar year.

Hyam missed a month of action in January with the same problem and the recurrence caused concern about a more long-standing complaint. As a result, Rovers sent Hyam for a second opinion from a specialist to try and get to the root of the issue.

READ MORE: Niall Ennis injury update after U21 substitution

Thankfully, the defender does not need surgery to fix the problem and that means he should be back to help the team in mid-December, having already been out for a month. That is a major relief to Tomasson and the team and Hyam too.

“The physio and I went to speak to a specialist down in London and he was quite happy that I didn’t need an operation,” Hyam told RoversTV.

“We can strengthen it and work on it in the gym rather than have an operation that would keep me out for 12 weeks.

“Because it’s a reoccurring thing from something that happened to me back in January, it was good to get that specialist opinion.

“He’s been happy for me to be a bit more conservative and to trust the process. I’m out of the boot and I hope I can keep progressing from here.

“I injured my ankle in January and tried to carry on, but it didn’t really settle. Doing it at Millwall, maybe stupidly, I carried on for another half-hour but don’t think I did any more damage.

“I knew I’d done something similar (to January) and it’s just about getting it ready again. Getting the boot off is a little milestone ticked off and, although it’s frustrating, you have to look at the long-term picture because I don’t want this happening again.”

Rovers have suffered terrible luck with long-term injuries this season. Sam Gallagher, Joe Rankin-Costello, Aynsley Pears and Ryan Hedges have all been ruled out for two months or longer in the opening third of the campaign.

Hyam will have spent two months watching on by the time he returns to action too and he admits the wait is agonising.

“It’s challenging because I’m seeing the lads out there training and I want to join in the games as well,” he said.

“These things happen and it’s about being stronger from it both physically and mentally.

“All I want to do is play. Even with the manic schedule of the Championship, I enjoy playing Saturday, recovering, playing Tuesday, recovering and playing Saturday. I try as much as I can to not see the physios!"