Simkin forced to call in loans as squad is stretched (From Dorset Echo)

Simkin forced to call in loans as squad is stretched

8:23am Tuesday 22nd January 2013 in Sport By David Williams, Sports Reporter

DORCHESTER Town’s season could reach crisis point if injuries hit the squad during the club’s imminent fixture pile-up, according to boss Phil Simkin.

The Magpies face the prospect of 13 games in the next 47 days with two matches a week for the next seven weeks, and the postponement of tonight’s Blue Square Bet South clash with Farnborough has only added to the misery.

That congestion, together with ongoing injury worries for Sam Malsom and Lewis Morgan, as well as the return of on-loan George Colson to Portsmouth, has forced Simkin to take action.

He is recalling Steve Walker and Antony Carlile from loan spells at Hamworthy United and says he would consider doing the same with Jamie Symes, who only joined Bridport on loan a fortnight ago.

Simkin added that the chances of bringing any new faces to the club was “unlikely” but stressed that for now the situation wasn’t at breaking point although it was worrying.

“I’m just getting really concerned now,” Simkin told Echosport. “We’ve called in the young lads because we are going to need everybody on board.

“We need to make sure we’ve got enough bodies more than anything else. We want to have five substitutes for each game so it will be good experience for the lads.

“Jamie Symes is at Bridport for a month but hasn’t kicked a ball yet. It could well be that I have to speak to Trevor Senior about getting him back.

“He only went there about two weeks ago and if I’d known then what I know now he wouldn’t have gone in the first place.

“It’s not a crisis at the moment but if we don’t get a little bit of luck and stay free of injuries it will be.”

Both Malsom (hamstring) and Morgan (groin) were thought to be making good progress with their respective problems but neither will be ready for at least 10 days.

And after Jake Gosling, Dan Thompson and Colson returned to their parent clubs over the last few weeks and Richard Logan left the Avenue, the likes of Dan Way and Calvin Brooks are expected to play a more prominent role with so many games over the next month and more.

The fixture backlog is also set to affect the squad’s training regime with Simkin confirming it is unlikely there will be many more between now and the end of the season.

The first of the backlog of games was scheduled tonight, however the freezing temperatures and the two inches of snow still laying on the Avenue Stadium pitch, put paid to that.