Injury Update - sponsored by Nuffield Health

A recent scan has revealed that Alex John requires ankle surgery, he has ruptured two ligaments in his ankle. Alex has been under the care of our own physiotherapy team and the excellent team at Nuffield since his injury. After the swelling eventually subsided scans and meetings with a specialist at Nuffield’s Vale facility have revealed the full extent of the damage. Thanks to our relationship with Nuffield Health, Alex will have the operation very shortly followed by a 12-week recovery period.

Nick Rhodes will also be out for a couple more months at least with a hip issue that needs to be rehabilitated properly before he can return to play.

Aneurin Livermore’s recent knee injury is still being assessed and it will take more time to determine the severity and how quickly he can return to the pitch for the Martyrs.

Jay Williams was absent from the squad at Tiverton on Saturday as he has returned to his parent club Sutton United for treatment on his hamstring. Jay had been playing through the pain barrier for the previous 3 games which had aggravated the slight hamstring strain, but he is expected to return to action with the Martyrs within a couple of weeks.

Frazer Thomas returned to the squad on Saturday following a period of illness, Callum Ryan-Phillips and Lee Lucas also completed 90 minutes, returning from their hamstring & hip injuries respectively.

Speaking on the injuries and the squad update, Paul Michael said, “It’s been clear to see that we’ve been running on a reduced squad over the last month or so and we’ve been ably supported by our fantastic development team. There’s some brilliant talent in that youth team who will continue to be involved and develop with us throughout this season and in the longer term.

However, on Saturday we had just one senior player on the bench, who in fairness to Frazer still wasn’t 100% after illness, but as many of the lads have done recently, he went over and above to be there for his teammates and the club.

Heading into the second half of the season it’s important we cover all bases if we are to achieve our goals, and I’m delighted to be able to bring in Adulai & Cawley at this point to support the players moving forward. I’d also like to point out at this point that we’ve had no offers from any other clubs regarding any of our contracted players and they are all committed to achieving success with Merthyr Town this season.”

The Martyrs return to league action this Saturday as we face Dorchester Town at Penydarren Park – 3pm Kick Off.