Growing injury list is a concern for City boss

Injury problems are mounting up for Bath City boss Adie Britton with the 2010-11 Blue Square Bet Premier campaign’s big kick-off just over a fortnight away.

New signing Luke Ruddick pulled his hamstring during a physical friendly encounter with Gloucester City on Friday night and a lack of fit players forced Britton to cancel Tuesday night’s scheduled trip to Worcester City.

Gethin Jones (ankle), Sekani Simpson (dead leg), Adie Harris (quad) and Lee Phillips (groin) are all nursing minor knocks, while Adam Connolly is still on the road to recovery after knee surgery and Joe Burnell is around three weeks away from a return following a long-standing groin problem.

Britton said: “We apologised to Worcester. It’s the first time I’ve had to do that but sometimes needs must.

“We couldn’t afford to go there with 12 fit players and risk jeopardising our plans for the first week of the season.

“We didn’t foresee how hard the pitches would be or quite how difficult some of the games would be for us.

“Hard pitches bring on an injury situation but a couple of them have been unlucky. In training, Simpson ran into Hector Mackie and got a dead leg and Harris came off second best in a tackle with Scott Murray.

“But Ruddick is the one that’s worrying us. We’re not quite sure how bad his injury is and he’s also gone over on his ankle and had to have a cortisone injection for that.”

City defeated Gloucester 1-0 thanks to Scott Murray’s first goal in black and white stripes on the stroke of half-time and resume their friendly programme at Bideford on Saturday (3pm).

They make the somewhat shorter journey to Paulton Rovers on Tuesday (7.30pm).

Britton said: “We’re going down to Bideford for the weekend and will have a night out after the game and do a little bit of bonding.

“I’m really pleased with how all the new lads have fitted in and Scott Murray has given us another lift. He’s such a great character and his love for the game is clear for all to see.

“He just wants to play football and nothing else – anybody who says he’s come to us for one last pay day can keep their opinions to themselves, as far as I’m concerned.”