Injuries aren't just down to bad luck, claims Small

STEPHEN Small (right) is not one to complain about losing players to injury, not least because it's part and parcel of the game, but he's becoming increasingly concerned that it's a problem that is now prevalent for Carrick Rangers because "opposition teams are approaching matches with more emphasis on the physical element of play."
By The Newsroom
Published 12th Oct 2010, 14:03 BST
Updated 12th Oct 2010, 15:02 BST

“I don’t like moaning about injuries, but I had a quiet word with the referee on Saturday for, although he had a decent enough game, I don’t think he maybe appreciated that Banbridge Town were being a little over-physical - and that’s becoming the norm, in my opinion,” explained the Carrick manager.

“Because we’re getting good results this season, I feel that some managers are perhaps reckoning that they need to put in a greater physical effort against us, lest they shouldn’t be able to match us football-wise and I suspect that referees are either incapable of reading it that way or are failing to grasp the nettle and countering it.

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“I don’t mean any disrespect at all to teams we’ve met recently and would happily express the honest view that I would probably do the same thing, but I do believe there’s an element of this approach in a common thread running through our recent fixtures.

“We lost three players to injury against Ballyclare Comrades and then the Welders match was noticeably physical and we lost a couple more players and the same thing happened against Banbridge on Saturday.

“So, over the last five weeks or so, we’ve lost six or seven players to injury and that’s not down to bad luck, it just couldn’t be. I’m not saying anyone was targeted or anything like that, just that some opposition are over-zealous in their approach. Nor am I asking referees to protect my players, just to control the game properly.

“Having said all that, the players who have come in have been terrific. Kyle McDowell, who hardly had a game recently, shrugged off his frustration and played really well, scoring two goals. Glenn Hand also performed commendably and scored, while Conor Toye came off the bench and did well.

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“Those three players have been patient and they contributed a great deal to our win. I had been stressing to them that they were very important part of the squad and they stepped up to the plate when called into action and that’s brilliant for the club.

“Now, thankfully, we have a free Saturday and I resisted the temptation to ask Bangor to bring forward our fixture so as to give the injured players more time to recover ahead of our next game, which is a big one against Portadown in the CIS Cup on Saturday week,” added Small.

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