JERSEY BULLS will be without their talismanic striker Lorne Bickley for tonight’s trip to Fleet Town as they look to build on Saturday’s vital away win at Knaphill [kick-off 7.45pm].
Bickley was elbowed in the head by Knaphill’s Zac Hawker in an off-the-ball incident while he was celebrating his second goal in the 2-0 win, deep into stoppage time.
It left Bickley with a deep gash needing stitches and manager Gary Freeman incensed that he was losing his top scorer for possibly two matches.
“There’s a Knaphill lad who’ll be available for selection for their next game and we have our number nine requiring stitches and a period on the sideline. That isn’t right,” he said after the match.
That means Fraser Barlow is likely to lead the line with few other options available to Freeman. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Euan Van Der Vliet remains a long-term absentee due to a thigh injury and captain James Querée is also unavailable again, as is Kamen Nafkha. However, the returns from injury for Adam Trotter and Jay Giles gave Bulls a huge boost on Saturday and they again feature in the travelling squad.
A win tonight would put Bulls just one point behind Knaphill in the Combined Counties Premier Division South table with a game in hand and consolidate their push for a promotion play-off place, with the one automatic place pretty much already sewn up by a rampant Farnham Town at the top.
Their opponents, Fleet, straddle mid-table in 11th. Bulls won 2-0 when the two teams met at the Mustard Seed Stadium last season, with goals coming from Bickley and a Luke Campbell penalty. Fleet have not won in their last five games and their last home win was on 6 January when they beat Sandhurst Town 5-2.
Jersey Bulls to face Fleet Town: Pierce Roche, Frank Tobin, Jay Giles, Fergus Boyle, Ben Le Rougetel, Luke Campbell (c), Harry Curtis, Joe Kilshaw, Adam Trotter, Luke Watson, Jonny Le Quesne, Ruben Mendes, Miguel Carvalho, Francis Lekimamati, Fraser Barlow.
