TERRAS boss Steve Claridge will stage a sick parade when his squad meets at the Wessex Stadium for a training session before heading off to Wales for tonight's Nationwide Conference South clash with Newport County (7.45). Claridge revealed he was one of three Terras taking antibiotics for chest infections before Saturday's unimpressive opener against Cambridge City - Lee Phillips and Lee Philpott were the others - while Chukki Eribenne and Nathan Bunce were both forced to start on the bench because of injury doubts. "I think I gave them the bug which made it difficult to breath properly when you were running," admitted Claridge. "But I am over it now and hopefully they are too." The player-boss, who also pulled a muscle in his hip after 15 minutes of the Cambridge game, wants to check on everyone's fitness before naming a starting line-up that will almost certainly show some changes after the Terras went down to a shock 2-1 defeat. "I know it sounds like I am making excuses, but these things happen and they do affect your performance," said Claridge. "Having said that, on the day we just weren't good enough and all credit to Cambridge who deserved to win. "Hopefully the players who looked like they were only 70 per cent on Saturday will be better today and then I will make a decision on what tinkering needs doing to the side although the squad remains the same." Changes in defence are the most likely after Claridge blamed "the same old mistakes" for Saturday's setback and he will be particularly keen to check on the experienced Bunce's recovery from a groin strain picked up in the friendly against Eastleigh. And with Claridge also struggling with a hip strain, Eribenne could get the nod ahead of his boss if he passes a fitness test on his bruised heel pad. Claridge said all his players were bitterly disappointed with what happened on Saturday and would be determined to put it right tonight. "You have to get these things into proportion and it was only one defeat - but we can't really afford to play too many more like that," added Claridge who warned that his side could expect a more physical encounter at Newport Stadium. County, who under-achieved last season after being tipped as promotion contenders, opened the new campaign with a 1-0 defeat at Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday. But manager Peter Nicholls was far from down-hearted with his side's display in a game settled early on by a single strike from Hawks' big-name summer signing Dean Holdsworth. Two men familiar to Terras fans in the County line-up are defender Scott Morgan, son of ex-Terras boss Stuart, and defender Gethyn Jones who had a short spell on loan at the Wessex Stadium last season.
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