Injury nightmare facing rugby boss ahead of Strathaven derby
East Kilbride Rugby Club head coach Craig Brown has revealed he has an injury crisis to manage this week, with a host of key players missing for Saturday’s derby clash at home to Strathaven.
Brown had a depleted side for a 56-11 defeat at Oban Lorne over the weekend but the situation has only gotten worse, with John Hodgkinson breaking his leg in the match, regular kicker Rory Blackwood spraining his ankle and Roddy Beaton suffering a concussion to rule them out of the big derby.
It will be the final game of 2023 for both sides and Brown is hoping they can find a way to end the year on a high.
He said:“It doesn’t look great as we have picked up a lot of injuries.
“John Hodgkinson broke his leg and Rory Blackwood rolled his ankle, so they are both out. Roddy Beaton is out with a concussion and Matthew Fletcher got a red card against Oban, so it is not going well.
“I can’t remember it being this bad before but we just need to get on with it.
“Last week we had guys off with Covid as well and guys off on holiday, so it will be a case of looking at who is still standing and who we can bring into the team to give us a decent showing against Strathaven.
“Strathaven will be out for a bit of revenge for us putting one over on them in the last game at their place [a 12-18 win], so we want to try our best to make sure it is two out of two.”
Saturday’s heavy defeat to Oban, where Matthew Smith scored EK’s only try, saw them slip to fifth in West Region One.
Brown added:“I didn’t really predict that kind of result. I knew it was going to be a tricky game because we had a lot of call-offs and players missing this week. There were seven players out from our last game against Kilmarnock, including our captain, our 10 and we didn’t have any backs substitutes.
“It really weakened us and the big problem you have at this level is there isn’t a great depth of players who can step up straight away.
“The guys who came in played their heart and soul out, and did their best, but against Oban’s full strength team at home, they played really well and we just couldn’t contain them.
“If we win that game, we would be sitting second but we’ve lost it and now we are fifth so it is crazy the difference one game can make.”
The clash with Strathaven is a 2pm kick-off.