Kenny Milne is likely to be on the sidelines until December as his akward fall at Hartlepool has left him with cartilage damage.
Adkins told the Scunthorpe Telegraph: "It looks like he is going to be out for several months - and that is a major blow both to him and to us.
It leaves United with just Cliff Byrne and new loan signing Krystian Pearce available to play in the center of United's defence on Saturday, with Andy Crosby still a long way off playing and Dave Mirfin suspended.
The United boss has not ruled out drafting young duo Jake Picton and Niall Canavan into the line up, but admitted it would be unfair if they were thrown in at the deep end.
Adkins is also hoping his attacking quartet of Hayes, McCann, Forte and May can recover from ankle injuries in time for the visit of Peterborough, but they all missed training on Monday and his threadbare squad will be tested to the limit at the weekend.