Injuries and flu bug wipe out Moore’s playing staff

Nov 21 2008 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

RONNIE MOORE is preparing to dig deep into Tranmere’s reserves of youthful talent at Yeovil Town this weekend.

Rovers could be without half a dozen or more first-team regulars at Huish Park as suspensions and a flu bug bite into the manager’s selection options.

Right-back Ryan Shotton and a midfield anchor Antony Kay are ruled out by one-match bans while midfielder Steve Jennings is starting a two-match suspension.

Moore fears he could also lose centre-back Ben Chorley, midfielders Gareth Edds and Ed Sonko and the versatile Ian Moore to a flu-type virus that prevented the quartet from training yesterday.

To make matters worse, centre-back Ian Goodison is not expected to make a scheduled return from Jamaica, where he played in a World Cup qualifier against Canada on Wednesday.

The defender may have to stay on in the Caribbean because his girlfriend is due to give birth to their child any day.

Moore moved to strengthen his resources in the hard-hit midfield area by signing Mark Wilson on a month’s loan from Doncaster Rovers yesterday.

The 29-year-old, a former Manchester United trainee, is likely to make his Tranmere debut at Yeovil.

But that still leaves the strong prospect of teenagers such as right-back Danny Holmes and centre-back Luke Waterfall, among others, being handed the chance to show they can step up to the demands of first-team football.

Moore will take a roll-call of players fit to travel before the squad sets off for the West Country this afternoon.

He said: “The four players who missed training were calling it flu but I’m hoping they have just got colds and some might be able to play. We can only wait and see.

“You want to go into a game like this with your strongest side and that is not going to be. We may have six or seven missing.

“But it will be an opportunity for one or two youngsters. We need to take 17 to 18 players to Yeovil, so a few kids may be added to the squad.”

Moore hopes the younger players can draw inspiration from the example of Aaron Cresswell.

The 18-year-old first-year professional stepped up for two first-team games this month when regular left-back Andrew Taylor was unavailable – and turned in a couple of performances Moore described as “magnificent”.

Moore added: “When Andrew became unavailable we looked at other players we could put in, perhaps a right-footed player with more experience. But we went with Aaron because it did not disrupt the balance of the side. Then he went out and surprised me.

“I knew he was a good player. Whether the time was right for him was the question. But he was absolutely magnificent in those games.”

Moore added: “The point is that I won’t really know – and nor will the supporters or the directors or anyone – whether a youngster is up to playing in the first-team until you throw him in. Some sink and some swim. You hope that if we have to throw four of them in atYeovil, at least three of them don’t sink.”

Today’s roll-call will dictate the kind of tactical set up Rovers deploy against a Yeovil side battling for survival near the foot of the League One table.

Moore has favoured a 4-5-1 formation in away games – and many at home – over the last two months. Tranmere recorded seven sheets in eight games before reverting to a 4-4-2 set up for the 2-2 draw against Southend last Saturday.

However, the manager admits: “It may be difficult for us to play the 4-5-1 system if too many players cry off. It’s been difficult preparing for this game because we’ve had only a dozen or so players on the training ground.”

Moore takes little comfort from the problems afflicting Yeovil, who were beaten 5-0 in and FA Cup first-round replay at Stockport in midweek and lost their last two league games to Leicester and Peterborough.

“I watched the cup tie in midweek and you can’t draw two many conclusions from that,” Moore said. “Yeovil missed a penalty early on and could have been 2-0 up. Then they conceded, had a man sent off, conceded from the free-kick and the game run away from them.

“In my experience, Yeovil is always a difficult place for anyone to go and we are expecting a tough game.”