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Preview & Teams for Saturday 04/10/2014

Preview & Teams for Saturday 04/10/2014

David Arundel3 Oct 2014 - 10:00
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WESTOE’S injury problems show no sign of getting better with chairman Dave Arundel admitting this is the worst he has known in all his years of rugby.

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The JML-sponsored side were already missing a number of key players but more injuries picked up in last week’s defeat to Burnage mean the squad is down to the barebones, especially in the second row. Arundel said: “We are really struggling as Sam Gaff took a knock on his ankle after 10 minutes or so last week and he is doubtful for Saturday. And Jake Lilley who came in for him is going away with work. Andrew Kirton has to go for an MRI scan but that’s not until the end of October so you’re looking at December at the earliest. So we’re looking a bit thin on the ground for second rows.
“Our two new signings are still probably two weeks off before they are going to be back to anyone near fit so it is a case of struggle along for another couple of weeks basically.”
Arundel was clearly frustrated at the run of bad luck which has seen his team lose three on the bounce following a good opening day victory over Huddersfield YMCA. It is a run, which has left the Shields team at the foot of National Division Three North. He said: “The second row situation is just getting ridiculous. We are literally down to people who are five foot nine playing in the second row but we simply don’t have anybody else to put in. “I’ve never known it like this. I’ve known bad injuries but this time it’s injuries in positions where we haven’t got an awful lot of cover. Other positions we probably could have covered it easier. Because we’re a fairly small side and a fairly young side, if we lose a couple of the bigger, experienced heads, we just don’t have the cover to put in. This time next year, we’ve got two big massive colts, second rows, when we get them to play senior rugby we’ll be in a lot better state but we’ve just got to battle through.”
The situation has got so bad that Arundel has even had to dust off the boots last week to make an appearance for the second team. He laughed: “Not only did I play but I scored the first try Tynedale had conceded this year. It was quite interesting telling the winger who was marking me I was 36 years older than him.
“But we’re not panicking yet because this is a pretty unprecedented injury situation. Apart from maybe the first week we’ve never really has what you would call our full strength side on the field. We keep saying when we get our full side back, we’ll be competitive again but at the minute we need to hang on in there and pick up whatever we can pick up until we get everybody back. Whether we get everybody back at the same time or not, I don’t know. That’s the thinking. You think that this cannot go on forever, it has got to turn.”
This week’s visitors to Wood Terrace are Sheffield Tigers who find themselves in sixth position after two solid wins in their last two games. And Arundel admits it will be a tough game for his young side. He said: “A couple of weeks ago I would have said we were in with a good shout but they were in national two last year and still have a few of the experienced players so it is going to be a tough one. “But we are at home and we said at the start of the season we’re targeting all our home games as wins and that hasn’t changed. So we’ll still be going flat out to win. “We’ve got to work on playing for 80 minutes and especially at home. We need to get something out of our home games. And everybody is focused towards that and everybody is singing off the same song sheet for that but every time you lose another player, it becomes that bit more difficult.”
There was some good news this week as both Rami Elliot and captain James Clark trained this week and a late assessment will be made on their fitness.
The seconds will travel to Horden for another Candy League game.

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