Injury crisis worsens for Rebels

Winless since September, low confidence in the dressing room and the threat of seven first team players being unavailable due to injury this weekend – things are not looking too rosy for Slough Town FC at the moment.

But, while their wily manager Derek Sweetman is first to admit that things are not going as planned he’s also been in football long enough to keep things in perspective.

“Confidence is pretty low in the dressing room at the moment,” Sweetman admitted this week.

“We’re not getting the rub of the green and it’s very frustrating not being able to do what I want with the players on the training pitch as so many of them are missing our session due to injury.

“But that’s life and you get on with it and I’m sure our luck will even itself out over the season.”

The ever lengthening injury list is a real problem for Slough at the moment and Sweetman is facing a selection headache over his two newest signings, Ricky Allaway and Rory Smith who are both doubtful for Slough’s derby clash at Bracknell Town this weekend.

Their absence would take the number of first team players on on the treatment table to seven. Difficult for any team, but potentially crippling for a side of Slough’s humble finances.

However, Sweetman is adamant that injuries are not solely blame for his side’s 10-game winless streak.

“Of course the injuries and the bad luck come into it, but they didn’t really play a part in us conceding late against Bishop Cleeve,” Sweetman added.

“That came from a lack of confidence in the team and players not keeping their heads in the last few minutes of games.

“That’s something that we will work on and I’m confident that if we get everyone back then we’ll be OK.”

All eyes now turn to the derby clash against Bracknell this weekend and the Rebels’ boss is hoping for a better result than their last derby fixture – a 6-2 defeat at Windsor & Eton last month.

“You always know what to expect from Bracknell,” he remarked.

“They’ll run through brick walls for their manager and we’re going to have to be at our best to get a result.

“I don’t think in recent weeks that the effort hasn’t been there but rather that some of the lads have been feeling sorry for themselves.

“We need to put the last few weeks behind us and get back to winning again.”