Well after just a month of the season it’s fair to say our injury list has been consistent and in truth shows no sign of relenting. With that in mind we’ve increased the budget to allow the Gaffer to bring in 3 or 4 new signings, as we assess the time spans of the injuries we’ve picked up.
At present our influential midfield player Daryl McMahon, has undergone an operation, on a ruptured tendon of his left ankle. We don’t expect to see Daryl with the 1st team until December, which is a huge blow to our season!
Our Skipper Mario Noto is still at the assessment stage but things do not look great for Maz. We believe another operation for our captain is now a distinct possibility. If he does need an op it could be December before we see Mario return, though he may feature for us before the operation (which may just be wishful thinking on our part)….
Next on the injury list is our Club Captain Luke Garrard, Luke has severely torn his lateral collateral ligament and according to our consultants and the surgeon. Luke could well be out until late November, though with the correct rehab, no operation is required at this stage.
Obviously we wish all the boys above a speedy recovery. However it is no use feeling sorry for ourselves and it should be seen by others as a window of opportunity…
We have much better news on our shorter term injuries, in that we are now down to Two. Our on loan Goalkeeper from Q.P.R. Elvijs Putnins, who has been sidelined with a back problem and our fullback Osei Sankofa who has a groin strain. Both are, expected to be back this Saturday…
So since the 2 – 1 win, against Thurrock 2 weeks ago. We have suffered three defeats on the trot. However with the injuries mentioned, we have gone and replaced them with experienced Braintree defender Mark Jones. Along with Braintree wideman Sam Lechmere. We’ve also signed Karl Beckford and Chez Isaac, both of whom are central midfield players, who will give us depth to our squad.
Both Mark Jones and Sam Lechmere won this division last season with Braintree, they come with good pedigrees, winning mentalities and good attitudes…
Karl Beckford has played for Aldershot, Kettering and AFC Wimbledon amongst others and Chez Issaac has played all of his career with Watford and we thank Watford for his services and thank them for clearing Chez to play for us in the F.A. Cup.
On behalf of everyone at the club we welcome our new players to Meadow Park and wish them all a happy and successful time with us.
So although it’s early days in our season, for all of us it has certainly been a difficult period. We would though like to thank our clinical lead Megan Reid and her physiotherapy staff, who have done such a great job dealing with the injured players, their appointments, their M.R.I’s, our consultants, our surgeons and making things as easy as possible for all our players with their injury concerns.
Obviously we were hoping that Megan and her medical team would have had an empty physio room and rehab gym as it’s so early in the season but that’s not been the case. Let’s hope for a little luck on this front in the coming weeks but we think you’ll agree the medical team deserve to have their work and efforts recognised!!
With our new signings now on board we hope to be strong again and we ask for your patience as the new players bed in. As the song say’s “it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish”… That may have to be our anthem already this season. However a decent performance and 3 points at Eastbourne on Saturday, would be just what the Doctor ordered.