DROITWICH Spa have been dealt a huge hammer-blow after receiving the news influential forward Nick Seabourne will be out until at least Christmas with a broken ankle.
Joint-boss Wayne Oliver admits he may have to dip into the transfer market to find temporary cover as the Saltmen’s leading goalscorer for last season is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Seabourne picked up the nasty injury in Spa’s 1-1 draw with Pelsall Villa on Wednesday night in their opening Midland League Division Two fixture.
Macauley Finch had given Oliver’s and Mark Owen’s side the lead after 17 minutes at their new temporary home at Stourport Swifts’ Walshes Meadow before Nathan Stone forced home the equaliser 20 minutes from time.
With Seabourne now out for Saturday’s trip to Coton Green as well as Jack Allerton and Curtis Townley, who are also struggling with ankle knocks, Oliver told the Standard he will have to weigh up his options.
Mark Burrows (away) and Bradley Burgess (holiday) are also unavailable.
“We will assess our situation after Saturday before we think about making a decision following Nick’s injury,” he said.
“He is going to be a massive loss for us so we may have to think about bringing someone in to cover.
“And having Curtis and Jack with ankle knocks, we are light on personnel for our trip to Coton.
“They won their opening game and are aiming for the top end of the table so it’s certainly going to be a tough game for us.”
Before their league clash against Pelsall, Spa booked their place in the second round of the Les James Challenge Cup with a 5-1 victory at Bloxwich Town on Saturday.
Haydn Morris (2), James Lemon (2) and Seabourne bagged the goals on a pleasing afternoon in the Black Country.
“It was quite a bruising affair as that’s how Curtis and Jack picked up their ankle knocks,” Oliver added.
“There were seven yellow cards as well but I thought we got through it very well.
“Our performance was really pleasing but we did not quite match that against Pelsall on Wednesday when we were lucky to come away with just a point.”
