Exeter City defender Pierce Sweeney faces a spell on the sidelines after contracting chicken pox.

The 24-year-old had been an ever-present for the Grecians in League Two up to their 2-1 defeat at Northampton Town last weekend and he now has 124 appearances for the club since joining in the summer of 2016.

City boss Matt Taylor has seen his squad ravaged by injury and illness all season, but this latest blow could not have been avoided. And Taylor says the popular Irishman has had it hard.

“He’s got chicken pox and it’s the adult version, so it’s quite serious and it’s been hard work for him. It’s not just the way it looks, in terms of the rashes and the spots and so on, it’s actually an illness within itself," Taylor said.

“I felt we missed Pierce away at Northampton with his physical presence and his experience, despite him being a young player.

“We did generally get physically dominated and Pierce is one who stands up to those physical rigours of League Two football, so we have missed him, we will continue to miss him and we have recalled Jimmy Oates from his loan spell at Hereford to supplement the right-back position along with Kane (Wilson).

“Pierce has started almost every game this season, so to lose him is disappointing. Hopefully it is not a serious one and he is not out for too long, but it is another player absent, which we don’t want."

Taylor was at pains to ensure the contagious virus did not spread to anyone else with members of staff feeling under the weather told to stay out of the changing room and travel separately from the team coach to and from Northampton last week. And, making light of the situation, there was one player in particular that the manager wanted Sweeney to steer well clear of.

Taylor added: “A couple of the staff have been under the weather with a virus - they had chicken pox when they were younger - so whether there was something going around, I don’t know.

“Pierce has been away from here (training ground) now for the best part of a week-10 days and he won’t be back until next week... because Hiram is the only player that has not had chicken pox in the whole group!

“If Hiram gets git and then gets chicken pox, I don’t know what I’d do!"

It certainly seems to be a case of laugh or cry for the City boss, who is at least boosted by the return of Troy Brown, Dean Moxey and Ryan Bowman this week. However, Lee Martin is still out with a thigh injury.

“They have all done bit-part training this week. Ryan, Troy and Dean wouldn’t have been fully available for Tuesday, but I am at the stage where I am having to play people who aren’t fully fit just to cover gaps," Taylor added.

“Lee is doing work, but he still has an issue with his calf and calf injuries are one of the most frustrating ones because you can’t get away from it, even when you are walking and resting.

“He still hasn’t taken part in training as of yet. He is doing work outside, but he hasn’t trained and won’t be available for the weekend, but we are hoping it won’t keep lingering."