Crawley have been dealt a blow ahead of their home game against Tranmere with the news that midfielder Caleb Watts will be out for around three months.

Watts, a recent loan signing from Southampton, made his debut at Carlisle last weekend but limped off after just 17 minutes with a hamstring injury.

Crawley boss John Yems revealed at his pre-match press conference on Thursday that the 20-year-old midfielder is set for a lengthy absence and that he might not be able to bring in a replacement.

Yems is already without Jordan Tunnicliffe, Jake Hessenthaler, Kwesi Appiah, Willy Ferry and Ludwig Francillette through injury.

Tranmere, who have beaten Crawley twice already this season in the league and FA Cup, have Callum McManaman and Nat Knight-Percival available.

both players are set to rejoin the squad after they recovered from Covid-19.

Elliott Nevitt was nursing a calf injury after the draw at Salford but was fit enough to be a substitute during the home win against Rochdale, and the forward will be pushing for a recall to the team.

Rovers will look to maintain their automatic promotion challenge by extending their unbeaten run to 10 league matches.