DROITWICH SPA joint boss Wayne Oliver has revealed sharp-shooter James Lemon could face up to two months on the sidelines – missing some defining matches during the process.
Lemon, who has bagged 12 goals so far this season in 18 appearances, pulled a quad muscle in the second half of the 4-1 league win over Hampton last weekend – meaning his is likely to be ruled out over the Christmas period when Droitwich face two of their promotion rivals.
On Boxing Day Droitwich face local rivals and promotion challengers Fairfield Villa. And after an away match against Earlswood Town on December 31, The Saltmen take on league leaders Alvis Sporting Club at home on January 2.
Lemon was Droitwich’s top scorer last season’s scoring 44 goals in all competitions.
Speaking to the Standard, Oliver said Lemon’s latest injury setback summed up the club’s season so far.
“James has pulled a quad muscle and is due to have treatment very soon – we’re looking at worse case scenario him being out for six to eight weeks,” he confirmed.
“It just sums up our season so far with injuries – as soon as one player returns we then lose another one.
“But we have showed this season we can score goals without James in the side and that’s what we will have to do again. Nick Seabourne has already shown he can score goals up front so we are hoping that will be the case.”
Oliver was delighted with the way his side battled back from a poor start against struggling Hampton but admitted the best from his side is still to come.
“We had the worst possible start by conceding early but that seemed to be the catalyst for us.
“The win looks better on paper than it did in reality.
“We are still not performing at our best this season and it is good to see us dig out wins when we need to.
“Injuries throughout the season have meant we’ve struggled to pick a settled side. I don’t think for the early part of the season I was able to pick the same back four for each match.
“But to be where we are at the moment just shows the quality we have in the squad.”
In their last game before Christmas, Droitwich travel to Smithswood Furs on Saturday knowing three points is a must ahead of a defining period between Boxing Day and the start of the New Year.
Oliver added: “Smithswood Furs will provide a similar test to what Hampton did last week. It’s not going to be easy because their pitch is not the best to play on but we are going to have to battle hard if we are going to come away with the three points.”