Port Vale manager Jim Gannon happy with defensive cover

Defender Gareth Owen is out of contract at Port Vale in the summer

Port Vale manager Jim Gannon will not now need to bolster his back four after receiving good news about defender Gareth Owen's injury.

Owen was thought to have a broken ankle after Saturday's 1-1 draw at Wycombe.

But an MRI scan revealed only bruising to the bone and ligament damage, meaning he could be back in four weeks.

"We're fortunate we did the bit of business with Exodus Geohaghon," Gannon told BBC Radio Stoke. "We don't need to panic and get another player."

Geohaghon, 25, signed on loan from Peterborough until the end of the season in January.

And, although he has been operating in midfield, he could move back to a defensive position.

Ritchie Sutton and Lee Collins could also slot into the centre of the Vale back four.

Owen, 28, left Adams Park on crutches on Saturday and his chances of playing again this season looked remote after an initial X-ray suggested he had fractured his ankle.

However, the former Stockport defender told BBC Radio Stoke that the early diagnosis had proved to be incorrect.

"The fracture they thought was there was probably the X-ray playing tricks on the eye," said Owen.

"But, on the MRI scan and when the doctor had a poke around there, he said it was fine, that it was just bruising to the joint and some damage to the ligament.

"It's unbelievable really, going from the bottom of the pile to the top of the world again."

Another Vale defender, Adam Yates, is set to enter talks about a new two-year contract with the League Two club.

Yates has played 73 times for Vale since joining on a free transfer from Morecambe in the summer of 2009, scoring once.