MIDFIELDER OUT FOR EIGHT WEEKS

Michael Phillips will be out for more than two months with a knee injury.

The Ashford United midfielder saw a specialist last week and is waiting to undergo treatment to cure the problem.

Boss Danny Lye said: “Mickey is going to have a blood transfusion in the cartilage to try and improve it, rather than having an operation. It looks like he will be out for eight to 10 weeks which is a long time to be without him.

“He is experienced, a big part of our squad and was still at training this week, passing on advice to the other midfielders.”

Meanwhile, fellow midfielder Mikey Dalton has left United and joined Southern Counties East League rivals Sevenoaks Town.

Lye said: “They put in a seven-day approach for him which was up yesterday (Wednesday).

“He wasn’t going to get in ahead of the likes of Ben Davisson, Tom Michelson and Michael but I think he jumped ship a little bit too early because there was still a role for him.”

Dalton made his Ashford debut almost a year ago to the day, making around 40 appearances. The United player-boss has also decided to keep striker Brett Ince at the club after he was injured playing Sunday football and failed to turn up for last week’s home game against Bearsted to have treatment instead.

Lye said: “I was all set to let him go but he had a long chat with (assistant manager) Shaun Welford, saying how much he wanted to stay.

“I took it for granted that players knew they don’t play Sundays.

“Brett has never been paid to play before but made the step-up to join us and that’s how we do things.”

Ince, United skipper Stuart West and Michelson look set to face former club Hollands & Blair at Gillingham on Saturday.

Lye said: “It’s been a long time without a game since losing against Bearsted and then having last weekend off.

“We know Blair well but if we show the right desire and commitment, we should be too much for them.”

The game against Sevenoaks, postponed on Saturday, has now been re-arranged for Tuesday, October 25 (7.45pm).

United face Lewisham Borough in the second round of the Macron SCEL Cup at Ladywell Arena on Wednesday, October 12 (7.45pm). league win of the season. Ashford, relegated last season after failing to win any of their 22 matches, started this campaign with defeats against Folkestone and Thanet Wanderers. They have not won since a 31-7 home success against Aylesford Bulls in February 2015. Team manager Lloyd Stokes said: “We didn’t do ourselves justice against Folkestone on Saturday but there is definitely confidence in the side. “It’s all about getting the first win and having not won for so long, we just want to get that monkey off our backs.”