Sponsored by
Harrogate Railway v FC Halifax Town: Trio to miss railway trip
BOSS Jim Vince will be without a trio of players for the Unibond One North New Year's Day trip to Harrogate Railway (3.0).
The Town manager has confirmed that midfielder Scott Phelan will be out for four to six weeks after tearing a hamstring in the 1-1 draw with Ossett Albion on Boxing Day.
And defenders Danny Meadowcroft and Paul Collins are set to miss the game through suspension.
Meadowcroft misses one game after reaching five cautions for the season - the majority of which were picked up at his previous club Droyslden.
Collins is in line for a three-match ban after seeing red for spitting on Boxing Day and, athough the club is still awaiting confirmation of his enforced absence, Vince is preparing for the game without the left back.
"There is something wrong if centre backs don't get booked these days," said Vince.
"I am not too worried because we have Ritchie Sutton there and Lincoln Adams is back.
"I am planning for the game without Paul Collins. You cannot do what he did and not pay the consequences.
"We have spoken to him and he will not do it again. He just saw the red mist.
"The tackle on him was very poor but I would not expect him to conduct himself in the manner he did.
"As for Scott Phelan, he will be out for four to six weeks. These things happen."
Vince is hoping to have Junior Brown available tomorrow, which would help offset the loss of Collins, and he still has inflential duo Damien Allen and Tom Baker in the middle of the park.
The former Crewe youngster has been on the bench for the last three matches but with little intention of making an appearance.
"It was a sensible approach not playing him," said Vince.
Jon Smith is the likely replacement for Phelan while Kris King or Luke Hinsley could feature at left back should Vince opt for a flat back four.
Town travel to Station View as the league leaders and will be hoping to avoid a repeat of their last trip there in the FA Trophy when they lost 2-1.
"They are an awkward team to play and we will have to be professional," said Vince.
"When we are good we are very good and we score goals. If we don't capitalise early in games it seems to encourage the opposition.
"That seems to be killing us at the moment and we have to be better in the final third."
Neil Ross is back in full training now and could return within the next fortnight. Steve Payne is around two weeks away from a return while Tony Barras will be out for another month.
FC Halifax Town (from): Kennedy, Coo, Brown, Adams, Sutton, Jemson, Allen, Baker, Smith, Gedman, Stott, Hinsley, King, Lietch-Smith.
Email to a friend
Print this page- A58 crash UPDATE: road now re-open after man hit by car earlier this morning
- Crash on the A58 in Halifax this morning UPDATE: Man in hospital with several broken bones
- Taxi worker dies aged 35 after finishing his shift
- Man suffers serious injuries in accident on M62
- How the new Halifax Central Library will look
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Halifax
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North west
