City boss not prepared to gamble (From Worcester News)

City boss not prepared to gamble

8:00am Friday 5th March 2010

• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

WORCESTER City will not gamble on Mark Clyde’s fitness for tomorrow’s visit of Hampton and Richmond Borough (3pm).

The defender is struggling with the knee injury that has plagued his career and he did not play in Monday’s 1-0 victory over Maidenhead United at St George’s Lane.

Clyde, 27, is a major presence in Carl Heeley’s team but City cannot afford to further aggravate the problem.

The caretaker manager said: “Mark Clyde is a very determined character and he doesn’t want to miss games but we have to balance it up.

“We don’t want to play him and risk losing him for the rest of the season. If we feel another week’s rest might help that may be a better option.”

With captain Tom Kemp and Wayne Daniel also struggling with respective shoulder and back problems, Heeley is also considering drafting in a new face, but admits it is not easy.

“I would like to bring in defensive cover if I could but it’s not that straight forward,” the City boss said.

“It’s difficult to get players in. You either serve seven days notice and wait, you pay a transfer fee, which is a non-starter, or you look to take lads out of professional clubs but they have to be of a standard that’s good enough.”