Bury Town dealing with selection crisis ahead of Romford and Felixstowe & Walton United matches
Bury Town manager Ben Chenery says the lack of options he has been left with heading into tomorrow’s game at Romford (3pm) is the worst he has ever known.
Seven players are ruled out with injuries for the trip to the Pitching In Isthmian League North Division’s bottom side while a further three are suspended.
Despite losing Ollie Snaith to a dubious straight red card in the 27th minute of Saturday’s visit of Great Wakering Rovers, the mid-table Blues ended a six-game winless run with a 3-1 victory.
However, a flurry of late cards saw both hat-trick hero Cemal Ramadan and Ipswich Town loanee Ross Crane shown second yellows as the hosts ended with just eight men.
It means those two players are not available this weekend before the trio are able to play in Tuesday’s rearranged Turners Hyundai Suffolk Premier Cup second round tie with Felixstowe & Walton United (7.45pm).
But forward Olly Hughes and defender Joe White are set to miss out after the pair bizarrely sustained broken bones in their hands.
“It is the worst I have ever had it with injuries and suspensions and it is going to really test us in the short term,” said Chenery. “We’ve had dips in form but honestly, injuries have cost us a lot this season.”
Picking up just eight points from their last 10 games, putting them 16th in the form table over that period, has seen their chances of reaching the play-offs realistically die. They lie 12th and 11 points off the top five having played two more games than Brentwood Town, who they were meant to travel to on Tuesday before a waterlogged pitch saw it postponed. The Blues have 10 games left to play.
“You’d need to be going on a monumentous run and everyone else dropping points,” admitted Chenery.
“We are where we are but I’ve always said any team would suffer if you don’t have key players available in key positions for a sustained period of time.
“Olly Hughes has missed a lot of football, Ollie Fenn, Joe Hood over the last six weeks, Jake Chambers-Shaw. There is a goalkeeper, there is a list and it’s really hurt us at key times with key senior players. But at times we haven’t been good enough on the pitch to get results.
“So it’s two fold. Once we have players back they need to be better, of course.”
Also an Ipswich Town Academy coach, he has previously used the club’s relationship with the county’s pro club to help cover gaps but he is ready to blood some more youngsters this time around.
“I think it is a great opportunity where we are currently situated in the league to give some people some opportunity in terms of the future of the football club,” he said.
But while he adds he will not allow his players to take their foot of the gas in their pursuit of a better league position, he knows Tuesday’s cup tie is where they need a victory to keep their season alive.
“Of course, but I’m a realist,” he said. “I’m a pretty optimistic person but we are going to be struggling for a squad. It’s going to be a real difficult ask for us.
“It’s disappointing it’s come at this time because we are going to have so many players missing. That I would like to change but on the other hand we go into the game with nothing to lose with players in there having new opportunities.”
Felixstowe, who are now level with the final play-off place ahead of hosting Stowmarket tomorrow, beat Bury 3-1 at Ram Meadow on February 8.
Meanwhile, Chenery said the three reds and flurry of cards from referee Oliver Morris-Sanders on Saturday was unbelievable.
"I have never seen anything like that before in my whole football playing career and time in management,” he said.
“I was extremely disappointed with the officiating and that is all I am going to say on that.
“It was a game where there was not one bad tackle in it.
“Both sets of players played it in the right way and you could see that.”
Of his team’s performance he said: “I thought we were in full control and never looked troubled. It was a game not full of fantastic football but certainly full of grit, determination and character. I was thoroughly pleased with the way the players applied themselves.”
Out of action:
Sam Blair (ankle)
Jake Chambers Shaw (ankle)
Ross Crane (susp, 1 lg)
Ollie Fenn (calf)
Olly Hughes (hand)
Angus Mills (groin)
Cemal Ramadan (susp, 1 lg)
Ollie Snaith (susp, 3 lg)
Ryan Stafford (toe)
Joe White (hand)
