James Clarke, a centre back for NEWPORT County AFC, will be out until at least mid-November due to a groyne injury.
The seasoned defender collapsed in the closing seconds of last weekend’s League Two loss to Bradford City by a score of 4-1.
Clarke will miss all eight of County’s games in October in addition to tomorrow’s trip to Salford City.
Manager Graham Coughlan stated, “James is a long injury, we have had some bad news again.” “We have to deal with him since we won’t have him for six to eight weeks.
“It’s not ideal for the player, the locker room, or the team, but we must deal with it.
He felt a pop running down the side, and it wasn’t because he wasn’t in shape or had a physical defect; it was just one of those football-related things that were thrown at us.
In Salford, County will welcome back captain Ryan Delaney from suspension, but they still have a long list of absentees.
On the list of long-term injured players are centre defender Kyle Jameson (hip), midfielder Harry Charsley (ankle), attackers Seb Palmer-Houlden (hamstring) and Offrande Zanzala (knee), as well as Clarke.
Matty Baker, a defender for Wales Under-21s, is close to recovering from a hamstring problem he sustained before returning on deadline day for a second loan stint from Stoke City.
He spent this week on the grass, therefore Coughlan predicted that he would need one more week of rehabilitation. “I’m crossing my fingers that he comes in to join us within the next 7 to 14 days.
As opposed to what we had to do with Declan Drysdale, Aaron Wildig, and Bryn Morris last weekend, we’d like to avoid throwing him onto the pitch. Instead of throwing him out on the pitch, we would like to give him some care and attention.
“Last week, I was forced to put three lads on the team sheet by asking them to exit the physio room.
“Hopefully they’ve had a week more of training and are more prepared to compete at Salford.”
County enters the match at Moor Lane with two points from their previous four games, while the expensive Ammies, who are expected to compete for promotion, are in 21st place after a five-game losing run.
Leave a Reply