Connor Taylor may require surgery at the end of the season to address a heart issue, Joey Barton revealed after Bristol Rovers' 2-1 defeat at Oldham Athletic on Tuesday.
The defender, on loan from Stoke City, has been the cornerstone of Rovers' defence this season, but he was pulled out of the starting XI during the warm-up at Boundary Park after feeling unwell.
He reported to Rovers' medical staff that he felt his heart racing and beating irregularly for a short period of time – a similar feeling to what he experienced in the win over Rochdale in December. That day, Taylor was substituted at half time after the episode occurred during the game.
Taylor soon felt better, but Barton and his staff were not for taking risks with the player's health and the 20-year-old was withdrawn from the squad, with James Connolly replacing him in the starting XI. Pablo Martinez was called up to the bench.
Taylor's absence had unfortunate consequences for the Gas, with the defence caught out for the opening goal inside 60 seconds, but his health was Rovers' absolute priority.
"He just had a weird rhythm in his heart, which he had in the Rochdale game when it made him come off," Barton said. "From what I gather, it’s an operation he is going to have to get at some point.
"There was obviously a big worry about it because it’s related to the heart.
"This time, it came on for a short period and it went off. I made the call at that period to say he can’t play. Firstly, we need to get to the bottom of it. Secondly, I wasn’t sure he’d be in the right frame of mind.
"As much of a blow as it was to us, you’re talking about people’s lives here. Football’s important but there are many things that are more important. It was a call that we made.
"He’s absolutely fine now, but he does require surgery in the off-season. It is something that will be relatively straightforward to fix.
"The problem for him is if it keeps reoccurring, we’re going to have to accelerate that process. We’re hoping that it was just a slight flare-up. It was over and done with in a short period of time and he’s walking around absolutely fine.
"Hopefully, he can continue because he’s a big player for us, but if not then he has to get that put right."
Antony Evans, meanwhile, started the game but was taken off after just 24 minutes. Barton said he was taken off as a precaution.
Evans was a doubt to play due to a knock sustained against Sutton United at the weekend, however, the manager did not like what he saw once the game began and his star man was quickly withdrawn from the action.
"He hasn’t done anything other than look like he was really stiff and about to pull something," the manager explained.
"He wasn’t moving right and in the build-up he was touch and go up until about 11am today."
Josh Grant did not make the trip to Boundary Park due to pain in his knee after Saturday's draw at Sutton, and the manager believes the versatile defender was sorely missed.
"We’ve just got to manage his load," Barton said. "He had a bit of patellar tendinitis after playing on a relatively hard surface on Saturday and at this moment he can’t really go Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, so we are trying to build that into him.
"We’ve got to be mindful with his minutes and his load, but we really missed Josh tonight."
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