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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Paul Thomson

Newcastle United loanee suffers setback but Hamilton Accies get Lewis Spence boost

Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin has revealed new signing Lucas de Bolle has suffered a setback in his recovery from a concussion injury and warned they will need to wait patiently for him to make his debut.

The 19-year-old midfielder was a deadline day signing from Newcastle United last week, joining on loan until the end of the season, but he has yet to travel north to meet up with his new team-mates.

He was knocked out cold during a game for Newcastle last month and is still suffering from blurred vision.

So any hopes Accies fans had of seeing the Scotland under-21 international in action imminently will need to be put on the back burner.

Rankin, whose side travel to Inverness on Saturday in the Championship, said: "Lucas had a setback from his concussion.

"The way it is, Newcastle have put him back 24 hours in the stage of his protocol.

"He was on a bike on Monday and we just need to go through the stages with him and hope that he recovers, and hopefully doesn't get any dizzy spells between now and the weekend.

(SNS Group)

"He saw the opticians and they are clear it is nothing to do with his eye, so that is the good thing.

"He's just having a recurrence of blurred vision so hopefully he can overcome that in the next couple of days.

"I've spoken to him numerous times over the phone and he is really keen.

"He is desperate to get here and play - and I know what that is like when you are a young boy. Sometimes that excitement to get going works against you.

"He was playing in a game for Newcastle and got knocked out a few weeks ago.

"Since then he has not trained but when you see Lucas playing and his energy levels, you will see that won't affect him.

"We need to be patient, especially with a concussion.

"It's not a tick-box exercise. He's got to go through rigorous tests to make sure he can play at the level required.

"But I'm sure he's got his eye on the international squad at the end of the month."

Meanwhile, Rankin did have some good news on the injury front as Lewis Spence's knee injury is not as bad as first feared.

Accies announced last week the midfielder was expected to be sidelined for at least six months, but they now hope to see him back at the turn of the year.

"Lewis' operation went much better than planned," said Rankin.

"Unfortunately for myself, I've actually seen exactly what happened. We got the live video from the surgeon and that's an experience I don't want to see again!

(SNS Group)

"But I'm delighted for Spenny that it is not as serious as first thought and we can hopefully get him back playing at the turn of the year.

"He has been carrying a limp, basically, trying to get through it and the niggle became too annoying for him.

"We didn't know what it was but he's got to the bottom of it now and had it tidied up.

"Now he's got the operation, he has a target in his head and the motivation to get back is much easier.

"He has that push to get through those dark days and it makes you a much stronger player."

Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.

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