Brentwood hope Noel says ‘No’ to Cards
The injuries are piling up for Ryman League Division One North club Brentwood Town and manager Les Whitton is unsure whether defender Reiss Noel will stay at the club after opening talks with Blue Square Bet South side Woking.
The Blues drew a blank at Potters Bar Town last Saturday as they drew 0-0 in frosty conditions and Whitton says he will try and bring in a striker on loan this week, after forward Dean Green limped off with a hamstring problem that is likely to rule him out of action for at least two weeks.
He said: “I’m looking to bring one in with Dean Green doing his hamstring last Saturday.
“I have to speak with Reiss Noel. I hope he doesn’t go, he said it would have to be something special for him to go, but I know he has talked with Woking.”
Whitton also has concerns over defender Gbenga Sonuga, who went off after a nasty clash of heads.
“It looks as though he got head-butted,” added Whitton. “His eye completely closed up so I’m not too sure how long he’ll be out for, but we’ve picked up a couple of silly injuries there.
“In the second half parts of the pitch were more like an ice rink and I don’t know if that played a part in Dean’s injury, he seemed to slip over.”
Petrit Elbi is also struggling with a hamstring strain ahead of Saturday’s scheduled game at home to Great Wakering Rovers. Dee Okojie has also been struggling with a glandular virus, while Noel is suffering from the flu.
Meanwhile, Richard Ketchell is on paternity leave and Ted Llewellyn is suspended alongside Green, but in better news Ryan Doyle should be back from a ban.
So it’s a selection headache for Whitton who isn’t feeling too well himself at the moment.
“Dee Okojie came in to train last week but he was weak as a kitten, so I’ve no idea when he will be back for us and hopefully Richard Ketchell will be back in the next couple of weeks,” said Whitton.
Whitton said: “We are struggling with injuries a bit but the league is our priority.”
And with five consecutive home games on the spin, Whitton is hoping Brentwood can use home advantage to rise the league.
“The pitch at home is awful at the moment so we need to sort that out,” he added. “We have played a lot of away games recently, so with this run at home we need to start picking up points.
“On Saturday I was pleased with the way we played, we battled hard.
“Potters Bar are doing well in the league, but it was difficult to play football on that pitch because it was rock solid, but our boys wanted to give it a go and there are no excuses, it was the same for both sides.”
