Not for the first time this season, Matlock Town joint managers Phil Brown and Gareth Williams will be sweating on the fitness of key players ahead of Saturday's trip to Whitby Town.

 

The latest headache come with skipper James Lukic's back injury which makes him extremely doubtful, with their selection problems being intensified with the possible absence of utility player Steve Circuit through work commitments.

 

Both Lukic and full back Paul Riley played through the pain barrier in last Saturday's 3-2 home defeat by Marine, a result which meant the Gladiators stayed in sixth spot and the Liverpudlians jumping two places to third.

 

"James shouldn't have played" Brown revealed. "His back was giving him some real discomfort and with us being 3-1 down last week we thought there wasn't much point in risking any further damage and having him out for a few games in the process. Paul Riley has had a sore ankle for weeks but he keeps battling on and you just wonder if or when he's going to break down completely."

 

Already without central defenders Ryan Davis and Glenn Kirkwood, Matlock will be praying that Lukic makes it as they aspire to start a long unbeaten run to cement their play off hopes.

 

"We'll do a roll call at training on Thursday" Brown continued. "We keep hoping that our injuries will clear and we're desperately trying to bring people in but that has an affect on the budget as we have to pay our contract players while they are out injured. Gripper (Williams) and myself have spoken to a few managers recently at all levels of non-league and they're all saying how difficult it is to bring players in and they have budgets bigger than ours. But we'll keep on trying and keep on looking, but its going to take a bit longer than we thought.We need some players back fit and the sooner the better. We'll just have to hang in there, hope to get people fit and see it through." 

 

Brown is conscious that the injury crisis could harm their play off prospects, but he also reminded fans that the season is far from over in spite of being out of both FA competitions and the League Challenge Cup.

 

"There's a lot still to play for" he said. "We're just five points behind Marine and three off a play off place. We're dropping points at the moment so basically we need to start picking a few more up more consistently. When we can get the likes of Stevie Taylor, Simon Barraclough, Ryan Davis and Glenn Kirkwood fit again, people will look at our side and think its strong. Any side would miss the quality of players like Ian Holmes, Tom Cahill, Kris Bowler,Steve Warne and Wayne Diuk, so it's hit us hard to lose more out injured. But the spirit's still good, there's never been any problems on that front. Some clubs are paying more in our league for players who aren't as good as we've got."

 

Good news for Gladiators fans is the return of in form striker Dene Cropper at Whitby, plus a likely debut for another forward in Eugene Francis.

 

The former Chesterfield trainee, who has been with Tamworth impressed in training and would have featured against Marine had his registration with the UniBond League gone through in time. Steve Taylor and Ryan Davis may be fit to face Kendal Town at the Geoquip Stadium on Saturday week.

 

"We pick a probable team on a Monday for the weekend but by Thursday that's all changed as players tell you they're not fit so you have to think again. To their credit some are playing when they shouldn't for the sake of the team. It'll be nice to have a bit of luck with the injuries particularly with the festive games coming up" said Brown.

 

Matlock's awful home record against Marine never looked like being improved upon with the visitors winning more comfortably than the 3-2 scoreline suggests. It has been a long while since a team csame to the Geoquip Stadium and dominated to the extent Marine did. Two goals in two minutes towards the end of the opening half from Karl O'Donnell put Matlock firmly on the back foot and although Gary Webster briefly gave Matlock hope with a 62nd minute reply, that optimism was immediately and savagely crushed as O'Donnell completed his hat trick less than a minute later. A late Curtis Shaw penalty gave the scoreline a close look but Brown conceded that the Gladiators were well beaten.

 

"We didn't deserve anything from the game. We were really poor in the first half and could have no complaints about being 2-0 down. At least in the second half we showed some fight but 3-2 flattered us."

 

So Marine made it thirteen league wins out of twenty two at Matlock with only three defeats with a performance which was probably the best by a visiting side for a good few seasons.

 

Forgotten man Rockie White is back in training with the Gladiators. The tough tackling and combative midfielder has not played since a 3-1 defeat at Telford fourteen months ago due to ankle trouble, but he is keen to resume his playing days with Matlock.

 

"Rockie's back training with us and thinks he's not far off so we'll need to assess him carefully. He's been playing on Sundays and in a local five a side league to boost his fitness and if we can get him back fit and strong again, it'll give him and everyone a great lift" said Brown.

 

A fully fit White is as good as any midfield player in the UniBond League. He joined Matlock from Eastwood Town in March 2003 with his finest hour coming in the UniBond League Cup Final win over Whitby in April 2005. White was in a rich vein of form, scoring Matlock's second equaliser in a 2-2 home draw in the first leg, before a man of the match performance in the return at the Turnbull Ground saw him bag a brace in a 3-1 extra time success.