You’d think we’d have learned by now, don’t start talking about getting everybody back until we’ve got everybody back, but we were all guilty of looking at the injury situation towards the end of last week with mouths watering at the prospect of a bulging squad.
But it was back down to earth with just 25 minutes on the clock at the Peninsula Stadium, by which time both Morgan Feeney and Fin Back had been replaced due to hamstring problems.
“I think Morgan’s is this whole nerve issue again,” manager Paul Simpson explained. “I don’t think it’s gone, but he was concerned that if he opened up it was going to go on him.
“When he blocked a shot he felt something, and he said that when he went to run after that he felt discomfort. I’m hoping it’s a neural issue that we can deal with this week.
“Fin Back’s is maybe a little bit worse. It’s similar to what he had a few weeks ago, it hasn’t gone but he certainly felt it. We just have to see how they are, but we do need to get to the bottom of both of them.”
Ready-made and trusted replacements were on hand, with Jack Ellis and Corey Whelan slotting in to play their part in overall excellent team performance.
“I’m trusting them all, they’ve all been fantastic,” the gaffer insisted. “I’d have trusted Tobi, Mick, Jayden if they were called on.
“We’re starting to get a little bit of a rosier picture in terms of those injuries. We’ve got Jamie Devitt, Ben Barclay, and Sonny Hilton desperate to get into the group.
“Sonny was with us today, he was our 19th man, so he did the warm-up and got more work into his legs.
“The lads who didn’t travel, like Duncan Idehen, Ben and Jamie, they’ve done their own work over the course of the weekend. They’re doing whatever is needed to get themselves right, because maybe next weekend somebody else might be called on.
“Every member of the squad has to be the best professional they can be so that they’re challenging each other constantly.”
For defender Corey Whelan, he not only helped to keep a lively front line quiet, but he popped up with a tidy goal to help the Blue along their way to a convincing three points.
“Credit to him, he keeps doing things right,” he said. “I’m quite sure he’s been a bit frustrated because I brought Morgan back into it, but he took it in the right way.
“I spoke to him about the reasons why, and he just gets on with his work. Credit to Jack Ellis, he got himself into the game after a little bit of a slow start, and in the end he was absolutely outstanding.
“The two early substitutions had me worried that I wasn’t going to have any more when I really needed them, so I was going to make three at once when it looked like Callum was struggling.
“He was fine, and I was aware that if he did come off for a smack in the face we’d have the extra concussion sub.
“In the end I knew I needed to do it at the right time, because I couldn’t afford to be left with ten men.
“I don’t think there’s anything else from the game. The other changes we made were more to freshen it up. Denno was getting cramp in his hamstrings because he ran himself into the ground.
“He didn’t even complain that he was on a hattrick, he knew he had nothing left in the locker. Two goals is enough anyway.
“It will be good when we get all of the injuries done, but I still think it’s too early to get excited. I’m looking forward to having tactical decisions to make once everyone is back and available, but I don’t want players to be disappointed.
“I want them to stay together, keep working for each other and keep pushing each other. That’s when we’ll know we’ve got a really strong squad.”
