Injury crisis threatens promotion push

Iain Robertson • Published 17 Mar 2010 11:01 0 Comments

ALLOA Athletic will have to overcome an injury crisis if they are to maintain their title push.

The Wasps have lost first team players in every area of the park and have been forced to draft in cover to deal with it.

Gaffer Allan Maitland had to bring in trialist Danny Main, from Bo'ness, for the superb derby day win at Stirling, and he has also tied up Hamilton defender Tony Stevenson on an emergency loan deal until the end of the season.

He told the Advertiser Sport, "We have been battered with injuries and are down to the bare bones."

David McClune, Scot Buist, Mark Gilhaney, Chris Townsley and Stuart Noble will all be out for Saturday's home game against Stenhousemuir, while Andy Scott could return.

Maitland added, "Hopefully we will get some of these guys back in the next couple of weeks and I'm hopeful that Buist and McClune will return for the Stirling game next Tuesday."

He added, "We have signed Tony Stevenson on an emergency loan. He has Premier League experience and will be a valuable addition to the team as he can play in defence as well as in midfield."

Alloa will go into Saturday's game at home to in-form Stenhousemuir sitting either top of Division Two or in second place depending on Tuesday's result at Cowdenbeath.

The Warriors are on a great run of form in the league right now, unbeaten in eight, they have won back to back games against Dumbarton and Peterhead and will be looking to make it a hat-trick of wins when they visit the Recs.

Stenny are sitting fifth in the league, one place outside a promotion play-off spot, and if they can start turning draws into wins - they have drawn five of their last eight - a play-off place could still be on the cards.

But the Wasps will be hoping they can emulate their last result against them - a 2-0 win at Ochilview Park.

Next up, is the rearranged league fixture at home to Stirling, next Tuesday. The Binos still have three games in hand over Allan Maitland's side but the Wasps will be determined to make it four wins out of four against their local rivals in the league this season to increase the gap over Allan Moore's side.

Amazingly, Alloa managed to record their biggest win of the season, at Forthbank, on Saturday despite playing with a depleted squad and defender Scott Walker, who is back after a one-match suspension, praised the spirit of the side.

He said, "We showed tremendous spirit against Stirling, playing with a depleted squad, and will try and carry that into the games ahead."

The injuries couldn't have come at worse time as the side go into the last quarter of what is proving to be an exciting season, but with Bryan Prunty in great goal-scoring form they will believe they can continue picking up the points.

Hugh Kerr has returned from Sauchie Juniors.

Tweet

Post a comment

Comments posted in the evening, through the night and at weekends will be queued for moderation as we do not have moderators available outwith office hours.

Your Comment:

Registered users log in here

Username or email

Password

If you are registered with us, you can login here. If you are not registered, do so now.
Once logged in you wont have to complete word verification each time you post.

Prefer not to register?

Screen Name *required

Email (not displayed) *required

Usernames must be 4 - 20 characters. Registration only takes a few minutes. Registered users can also take part in competitions and other features of the site.

Word Verification:
Enter the text as shown.

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.

Follow @alloatiser