MIDFIELDER Andy Hall has been ruled out of Chickerell United’s next three Dorset Premier League games due to work commitments.
The ex-Bridport man’s absence comes as a big blow for the Chickens who are already without injured trio Andy Graham, Tommy Hastie and Nick Etherington.
With Liam Weeks also carrying a foot injury the villagers’ ranks will no doubt be fully stretched tomorrow when second-placed Swanage Town & Herston visit Weymouth College looking to bring the curtain down on their campaign with a third successive victory (3pm).
In fact the last team to defeat the Swans was Chickerell on April 4 when they captured a 3-0 win at Days Park.
And with Tuesday’s 2-0 success over leaders Portland United still fresh in their minds the Chickens will no doubt be in confident mood of stretching their unbeaten run to 14 games despite their depleted squad.
United boss Maurice Welch, who is optimistic ahead of tomorrow’s game, said: “Losing Andy Hall for three games is going to be a big miss for us and with Andy Graham still not fit and Nick and Tommy out injured it does a stretch us a bit.
“Liam is also struggling with a foot problem but Gavin Daniels will return and Ben Coltart could also feature after missing the game against Portland.
“I always endeavour to keep a settled side because I think that is what wins games and I am sure the lads will be buoyed following Tuesday night. But there is always a danger when you are on an unbeaten run where a bit of complacency can creep in and you can suddenly slip up.
“We played them at their place at the beginning of the month and deserved to beat them 3-0 but their results before that game and since have been excellent which would seem to indicate that was just an off day for them. And that is why anything less than our best could well end up with them upsetting us.
“So in a way tomorrow’s game is a bit of a banana skin for us but the lads have been tremendous in recent weeks and I am sure they are all determined to keep the good run going.”
Chickens (from): A Weeks, Henley, Biles, Welch, Miles, L Weeks, Charles, Daniels, Evans, Smith, Sibley, Roper, Beads, White, L Weeks, Coltart.
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