In some ways, Workington Reds have a “free-hit” tomorrow when they take on Dunstan in the second qualifying round of the FA Trophy.
Reds, who lost their unbeaten record with a 2-1 defeat at Warrington Rylands on Tuesday night, went into that game without eight senior players.
Although Ruben Jerome and Brad Carroll did get the last 15 minutes, as they both came back from an injury-enforced absence, neither are considered match fit and won’t start against the North East side.
Manager Chris Willcock said: “Our training session on Thursday was very light and I’m afraid we are still not in a good place for tomorrow.”
The league and winning promotion to the NPL Premier Division have always been Willcock’s and the club’s main priority and the lengthy injury list is not conducive to a lengthy run in a knockout competition.
One player who will be back in the frame tomorrow is striker Charlie Bowman who was unfortunate to miss the midweek clash with Rylands.
He leaves his car at Tebay when picked up by the team bus but on Tuesday when it arrived a gust of wind caught the car door and made it impossible for him to close it. Unable to leave the car he phoned for assistance but was unable to get it sorted in time to get down to Warrington.
Reds fell two goals behind before staging a recovery and a number of close shaves included skipper Conor Tinnion hitting the bar from 25 yards.
“If we hadn’t conceded so soon after the first goal went in I am sure we could have gone on to win that game. We played some excellent stuff in the last 20 minutes,” said Willcock.
Opponents Dunstan were involved in the first qualifying round when they beat Worksop Town 3-2 at home.
They currently lie eighth in NPL East, some 15 points behind leaders Liversedge, and only third-ranked of the strong North East contingent behind Shildon and Marske.
They have won one and drawn one of their five away games and in nine matches have both scored and conceded 14 goals.
