ASSISTANT-BOSS Phil Simkin has confirmed that Gary Bowles’ ankle injury is not as bad as first feared.

The Dorchester defender went over on his ankle while trying to clear the ball during Tuesday night’s 4-2 win at Zamaretto Division One South & West side Sholing.

The Magpies feared Bowles had suffered a bad break but X-rays, taken at Southampton General Hospital, revealed a hairline fracture instead.

Although disappointed to see Bowles sidelined, Simkin is relatively pleased with the outcome.

He said: “Initially I thought he had broken it but it’s come back as a hairline fracture, which isn’t as bad as we first thought.

“He’s trained so hard and was playing really well but that’s football for you. The main thing is that it’s not broken.”

Hairline fractures can take several weeks to heal but Simkin revealed there has been no time-frame attributed to Bowles’ injury.

He added: “We don’t really know how long he’ll be out for yet but we should find that out in a week’s time when the swelling has gone down a bit.”

Dorchester visit Wessex Premier League side Poole Town this evening (7.45pm) in their latest pre-season outing. And the county town outfit are expected to rest a number of key personnel.

Simkin added: “Poole will provide a stiff test. Their manager Tom Killick will have them organised and they will want to win, just like us.

“We probably won’t field our strongest side as we’ve got a home game with Bournemouth on Saturday and we don’t want to pick up any more injuries.

“Tonight we’ll give chances to the fringe players and the trialists. Hopefully Stuart Douglas will be there as well.”

* Bridport entertain Sherborne Town at St Mary’s Field tonight (7.45pm).