9:01am Thursday 7th August 2008
By Kevin Affleck
City boss Steve Castle is trying to sign a striker and a wide player before the season opener with Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday.
After securing the services of Ben Bowditch earlier in the week Castle is striving to sign a forward to cover for the loss of Lee Clarke.
The striker suffered a heavy blow to the back in the pre-season win over Cheshunt on Friday night and is expected to miss at least the first two games of the season.
“Up front is an issue for us and I think we need to bolster things out wide,” said Castle.
“Lee is touch and go at the moment. He had a real bang to the side and it’s affected his sciatic nerve. Initially it looked very nasty but he’s walking and got good movement at the moment. Hopefully he won’t miss more than one or two games.”
The loss of Clarke, so soon after the injury to Ryan Frater, highlights the threadbare nature of Castle’s squad.
“We’ve just about got the squad to cope with it but if they are the only problems we’ll have this season then I’ll be happy,” said the manager.
“I’m happy with the quality I’ve got but the quantity might be little bit below other teams.
“We are keeping to what we can afford. We’ve can’t compete with the teams who are offering ridiculous sums of money."
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