Striker Matty Lewis looks certain to miss the start of the season after sustaining a suspected broken leg in the 0-0 draw with Cheltenham.

The towering marksman suffered the injury just eight minutes into the second half of last night’s pre-season friendly at the New Bucks Head.

The Bucks were today awaiting confirmation on the initial diagnosis that he has broken a fibia in his right leg.

“That’s the one thing we needed to avoid and everything else that happened in that game is irrelevant to me now,” said dejected boss Rob Smith.

“Just look at how many players we’ve got out. We’re struggling for enough players to cover the games.

“We’ve got Gary Fitzpatrick on holiday, Jamie Vermiglio and Scott Embury are both going on holiday, and now Matty’s out, Lee Vaughan’s out, Asa Charlton’s out, Simon Forsdick’s out, Jimmy Turner’s out.

“It’s a ridiculous pre-season and it’s so disappointing.”

Smith has not ruled out a raid on the transfer market to bolster his attacking options – and also revealed a deal for former Kidderminster defender-cum-midfielder Gavin Hurren could be resurrected.

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Hurren had been training with Telford but looked set to sign for a Blue Square Premier club, with Mansfield and Crawley leading the chase.

“We’ll see what the diagnosis is on Matty, and if it’s really that bad then we might have to go and sign somebody,” Smith admitted.

“Gavin Hurren may be interested in talking to us, though that doesn’t solve our striker problem.

“He’s had offers from elsewhere but I think he’s still interested in coming here and something might happen next week.”

Smith’s frustration at his latest injury woe was only partially tempered by an impressive showing against League One side Cheltenham.

“It was a tremendous performance,” he declared. “I didn’t think we were much worse than them and we probably had the better chances.”