Watson blow for Dorchester (From Dorset Echo)

Watson blow for Dorchester

8:54am Tuesday 19th February 2013 in Sport By Adam Summers

THE Magpies look set to be without striker Ben Watson for tonight’s trip to basement boys Truro City (7.45pm).

The 27-year-old suffered a calf strain in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Basingstoke Town and Phil Simkin is concerned he could be out for a while.

The Dorchester Town boss told Echosport: “I don’t think there is any way he is going to make it tonight and it’s a big blow to us because he has been tremendous.

“Ben is a massive part of the way we like to play and he has had a really good season, but unfortunately these are the things that can happen when you have too many games on very heavy pitches and not enough players in the squad.

“Players are not machines and sometimes I think people forget that.

“They go to work just like everyone else so to expect them to perform at their best twice a week on such a regular basis is a lot to ask of them.”

Watson’s absence means even more pressure will be put on recent signing Kieffer Moore this evening but it appears the ex-Truro man is unlikely to lead the attack on his own.

Simkin added: “Kieffer is more than capable of playing up front on his own but it is not something I particularly want to do because I think we are more effective with two up there.

“We have got Charlie Clough (pictured below) who is very adaptable but we will just have to wait and see.

“Whichever way we go I am sure Kieffer will be looking forward to it and hopefully we can come away with something.

“I don’t foresee it being a pleasant evening though and we really are going to have to dig in to get a result.”

When asked how long Watson could be out for, Simkin went on to say: “I am still waiting to find out the full extent of it but if it’s any more than a couple of games then I might have to look at bringing a loan in.

“A couple of other players are also carrying knocks but should be okay, and of course Mark Jermyn and Ashley Nicholls are back now too.

“They were a bit rusty on Saturday having missed quite a bit of football, but they came through it unscathed which was very important because at present we need all the experience we can get.”

It remains unclear whether Nathan Walker and Nick Crittenden will make the 290-mile round trip this evening and the same applies to on-loan keeper Benjamin Büchel, who recently joined the Magpies from AFC Bournemouth.

Dorchester currently sit 13th in Blue Square Bet South, nine places above Truro, who currently have just 12 points following a 10-point deduction for entering administration earlier in the season.

Magpies (from): Matthews, Büchel, Clough, Pugh, N Walker, S Walker, Bell, Smeeton, Martin, Jermyn, Gleeson, Nicholls, Morgan, Malsom, Crittenden, Way, Carlile, Moore, Watson.

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