TIVERTON Town's new Pitching In Southern League campaign is less than two weeks old but already manager Leigh Robinson is having to deal with mounting injury problems.
Leigh said: "It's been a hugely problematic start to the season injury-wise and we're experiencing some really bad luck in this area. The stuff that's happening is almost what you might expect in, say, March time or at the end of the season, through wear and tear."
The revelation that on-loan Torquay United goalkeeper Matt Wonnacott broke his arm in last Saturday's 3-2 home defeat by Chertsey - only Yellows' third match of the season - was the latest in a series of blows suffered by Tivvy.
New signing Tor Swann emerged from the same Chertsey game with a broken toe that will rule him out for at least a fortnight; fellow forward Javan Wright was already absent from that game, having picked up an ankle injury that will see him miss more than a month of action.
Josh Jones, who is currently serving a suspension after being sent off against Chertsey, is also carrying an injury and being nursed through games, as are team captain Matt Britton and Dylan Jones.
Adding to the selection problems facing Leigh has been the unavailability of midfielder Farren Simons, the result of a suspension carried over from last season.
Topping that, plans to bring in a player on loan player from a professional club for this weekend's game at Bracknell Town were stymied when the target got injured in a match for his club this week and, consequently, will not be available for another month.
Leigh said: "It's a difficult period, and we have to ride the storm for a couple of weeks and trust that this will all settle down eventually.
"On the positive side, it does give other players the chance to stake a claim early in the season and forces our hand, selection-wise, in a certain direction."
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