The broken nose suffered by Spalding RFC skipper Harry Sharman in Saturday’s Midlands One East defeat to Belgrave will rule him out for at least four weeks.
Sharman, who accepts that the incident that badly damaged his nose was probably an accident, requires a trip to see a specialist before he can even think about returning to the field.
That definitely rules him out of Saturday’s trip to Bugbrooke (3pm), plus the home triple-header against Derby (September 20), Huntingdon and District (September 27) and Ilkeston (October 4).
The gutted captain said: “I don’t think it was deliberate, I just got caught by what must have been an elbow or knee. It happens.
“I’m obviously very disappointed that this has happened, even more so on the first day of the season.
“I don’t know if I’ll need to have my nose straightened or not, at the moment it looks pretty bad and I have a pair of black eyes.
“Even if I could play on, I’ll not be in the right mindset, so I’ll just have to wait until I’m fit.”
Town will also be without Jay Harwood for a period of four weeks after his red card for punching last Saturday. That issue has been dealt with in-house by the club.
Sharman doesn’t believe the pair’s absence will stop them from grabbing a first win of the campaign this Saturday, though.
He added: “Bugbrooke will be a completely new challenge for us all, they’re not a side we’re familiar with really.
“We’ve got to focus on ourselves. There were an awful lot of positives against Belgrave – and if we can replicate that and take our chances, we will be in with a good shout.”
