Injuries are cause of concern for Hatters boss

INJURIES largely forced manager Paul Buckle’s hand on Wednesday night as he played a back four made up entirely on full-backs in the goalless draw with League Two Wycombe Wanderers, writes Mark Wood.

Lathaniel Rowe-Turner partnered Ronnie Henry in the heart of Town’s defence, with Greg Taylor playing right-back and Jake Howells on the left.

Buckle said: “We’ve suffered a few injuries to be honest. Rowe-Turner’s actually played centre-half for me before so it’s not problem, he’s blessed with that great left foot he’s got. And he’s got good pace so he can play there. And Ronnie Henry has mixed his career up, playing centre-half and right-back.

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“They are both capable, I knew they were capable and they came through it great, they were a big plus for me tonight.

“Henry and Rowe-Turner are a good combination. I know what Janos (Kovacs) can do, so it was right to play those two and they did well. Sooner or later it’s going to be very difficult to pick this team because everybody is up and at it.”

The likes of Kovacs and Dean Beckwith were on the bench though, although Alex Lacey (shoulder) has joined Jon Shaw (calf), Garry Richards (ankle) and Danny Spiller (achilles) on the crocked list.

Buckle continued: “We were doing a defending in the box session a few days back and he’s (Lacey) caught his shoulder and popped out a little bit. So he’s going to be two or three weeks.

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“We have to see how the injuries are. We’ve got quite a few players out at the moment. So that’s not great for us, but the young lads are stepping up to the plate and all the time they are doing that I don’t see any real need to bring anyone in.

“Spiller’s quite sore on his achilles, we’ve got to get that looked at. It’s a real shame for the boy at the moment. And Richards, the centre-half, he has gone over on his ankle on the trip to Portugal.

“He’s tried to come back and it hasn’t quite worked out and we will have to look at it again on Monday.

“I’m hopeful on Monday we can get that sort of resolved with Garry. I think Spiller might be a little bit longer.

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“Jon Shaw’s got a niggle in his calf and had a hernia and missed the latter part of last season. I’m hopeful Shaw will be back for the weekend. We need all the bodies, we’ve not got a massive squad.”

Players missing large chunks of pre-season with injury is also a concern for Buckle, as departed captain George Pilkington struggled for much of last time after missing the warm-up games.

Buckle continued: “It is (a concern), but Jon’s put a lot of work in. Jon Shaw has only missed four days training, so he has missed the games which isn’t great. But he’s an experienced player, he understands the league and he knows where the net is.

“I’m not over-worried about that but it would be nice to see him back for Saturday. You’ve just got to be so careful with injuries coming back. It’s a real roll of the dice whether you should or you shouldn’t. You’ve got to be careful, but at the same time come Saturday it’s two weeks to the start of the season and I want to give everyone a fair crack of the whip so everyone’s got a fair chance of being in that starting XI.”

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He was able to welcome back stopper Mark Tyler for his first 90 minutes of pre-season though, saying: “Mark never changes, he’s an excellent pro. He’s had a little bit of a niggle with his back, but he’s a safe pair of hands there in that goal and it was great to see him back playing.”

On whether there may be any more ins and outs, he added: “I’m not sure really. We will have to keep looking. I think every game in pre-season you learn something different.

“The board have been more than fair and Gary (Sweet) and I will look at it and see where the squad is. I think we’ll all be pleased with what we saw tonight.

“Pre-season is difficult to gauge sometimes. Teams go through pre-season not losing and game and then lose the first one or two. So you have got to be careful, but at the moment my eyes are not lying to me. I’ve got to be pleased with the energetic and work-rate of the team, and the skill levels and quality and understanding of the new shape we are playing.”