GRESLEY FC will be missing three first-choice players tomorrow as they look to continue their 100 per cent start to the season at home to Holwell Sports, kick-off 3pm.
After having a large portion of his side unavailable for a week of pre-season due to a group holiday, manager Gary Norton is suffering the same fate this weekend, with a trio of players away who would have been in the starting lineup.
Midfielders Richard Butler and Mickey Lyons and fullback Tom Betteridge are the absentees, but Norton revealed it could have been even worse.
“We haven’t got as many players missing that we thought we may have,” he said.
“There were a number of lads going away together, but when we couldn’t get the game postponed, they decided to change their plans.
“We had made representations to the league not to have a fixture on that day, well before the fixtures came out.
“So I was a little disappointed that, for whatever reason, that wasn’t taken into account, but we are in the same shape as everyone else.
“Three players out of your starting line-up is a big space to fill, but I genuinely think that with the squad we’ve got, we’ll still maintain a level of performance.
“Mickey Lyons is always going to be a miss, Rich Butler was fantastic on Saturday, so that’s a blow, but he’s got a two-game ban coming up, so maybe this is the best time for him to be away.” Despite these platitudes, Tom Betteridge is arguably the biggest loss as Gresley may have to rethink their formation and go with a back three in his absence.
The other players who can fill in at right-back if the Moatmen were to stick with a back four — Matt Hill and Gareth Langford — are also unavailable this weekend, so Norton suggested he might push Jordi Gough, who has played at leftback in both competitive games so far this season, into midfield to replace Lyons, bring Tom Land into the back three and go with two up front.
That strike partnership is still likely to be missing star forward Royce Turville, who is yet to play this season after picking up two calf injuries over the summer, but the 2009/10 player of the season could be on the bench.
Norton said: “I’m 80 per cent certain that Royce will only be on the bench. We have a midweek game next week and we want him to be fit for that.
“We like to play a back three, but when we tried it in preseason, the players didn’t look that comfortable.
“We want two or three systems that we can use, and we want everybody to be comfortable with them.” Winger Oliver Hancock is in a similar situation to Turville and could come on as a substitute tomorrow.
Lee Sutton is likely to return up front after being on holiday for Saturday’s FA Cup extra preliminary round win over Deeping Rangers.
New signing Liam Hebberd will have to wait one more game to make his debut after joining from Bardon Hill Sports this week.
This will be Hebberd’s fourth spell under boss Norton and he played for Gresley Rovers when they were in the Uni- Bond League.
However, he is currently serving the last match of a three-game suspension carried over from last season.
GRESLEY FROM: Hateley, Barrett, Land, Coulson, Slater, Gough, A Betteridge, Hancock, Bate, Gadsby, Woodall, Turville, Spencer, Sutton, Hanslow.
