AFC Telford United are facing up to an early season injury crisis – with four of their 18-man squad stuck on the sidelines.

Jon Adams became the latest casualty on Saturday, the midfielder pulling his hamstring in the 1-0 win at Gainsborough Trinity in the Blue Square North.

Defender Jimmy Turner is struggling with a side strain, while Jamie Vermiglio is also out for two-to-three weeks after pulling his groin in training last Thursday.

The situation gets worse after the Bank Holiday weekend, with Carl Rodgers then beginning a three-match ban following his red card against Hinckley last week.

The one blessing for Telford is that three of the quartet are midfielders – one position where their squad does have ample depth.

“I was criticised for saying it leaves us short of numbers, but I didn’t particularly mean in midfield because that’s one area where we’re not short of competition,” said assistant manager Larry Chambers.

“It does leave us short on numbers overall, but we didn’t go into the season with our eyes closed.

“We knew it wasn’t a big squad and we needed to be lucky with injuries. We’re no different to anybody else and it’s just a bit unfortunate that we’re going to be depleted.

“Jimmy has the best chance for this weekend, and we will know more about him after we have trained tonight and on Thursday. The other two are definitely going to be out.”

Chambers still took plenty of positives away from Gainsborough – not least from the performance of skipper Stuart Whitehead, who made his comeback from a knee injury.

“It was nice to have Stu back and you can see what a difference he makes to the whole side,” the Bucks No 2 added.

By CHRIS HUDSON