Steve Walters played against Hayes whilst carrying a niggling knee injury on Saturday, whilst Val Owen is only just returning to anywhere near fitness after a long lay-off with ligament damage.

It leaves Phil Wilson facing the prospect of, at best, a central midfield partnership playing some way short of full fitness with the season no more than a few days old.

He said: "Steve's injury is a worry. He first felt it last week in training and then again before the Hayes game. He is going to see a specialist this week."

Walters' injury left Wilson contemplating playing a far from fit Val Owen against Kidderminster last night, Tuesday.

Wilson added: "We will wait to see what the specialist says about Steve's knee. But I'm certainly looking at bringing in a midfield player on loan. We were down to just 12 fit players at the weekend."

Of the opening day defeat, he added: "We did enough to be in front in the first half, but it was always going to be a hard game to win. The state of the pitch didn't suit our style of play."

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.