Ludlow boss facing selection poser

The Salop Leisure League Premier Division pace-setters resume their title push away to Newport Town, but will have to contend with mounting availability issues.

“We have got eight players out for Saturday,” said Evans, who saw his side suffer a 3-1 defeat to Shrewsbury Up & Comers in the semi-finals of the Tony Bywater Cup last weekend.

“Four lads got injured last week, three of them with hamstrings, while the other one broke his toe. We picked also up a red card and a few others are unavailable.

“I haven’t played for a few weeks but I might have to be involved on Saturday.”

Former Manchester United and Shrewsbury Town forward Evans is hoping his side can get through the next couple of weeks unscathed and maintain their advantage at the top of the table.

Ludlow are four points clear of Dawley Town and seven ahead of Shrewsbury Up & Comers.

“The last few weeks have been tough,” said Evans. “We scraped past St Martins, drew with Haughmond and then lost on Saturday. It’s something the lads aren’t use to and when things go against them they can react negatively, which is a bit disappointing.

“We have just got to try to get through the next couple of games and hopefully get a few players back. We have a four-point gap but we need to keep winning.

“With a full strength squad we will give anyone a game.”

“We have got a couple of games against teams in the bottom half and then we have some really tough games to follow against Dawley, Shrewsbury Up and Comers and xxxx.

“That Shrewsbury side that beat us Saturday, I don’t think they will drop many points between now and the end of the season.

“Everyone wants a goalscorer and they have recently signed Alex Hughes from Whitchurch.

“He scored twice against us and it makes a big difference having a layer like that at this level.

“Ryan Lewis scored for us bit then got inured before half-time and we hadn’t got any other strikers unavailable.

“It was difficult after Ryan went off because we didn’t have a focal point up front.