There’s no doubt – City are in the grip of an injury crisis, with no fewer than four potential strikers missing out last night.
We know Ben House and Tyler Walker, our two main strikers, will both likely be out until Christmas or beyond. Danny Mandroiu missed the weekend’s fixture and last night, whilst it was revealed Reeco Hackett also missed out through a minor injury against Derby.
That’s prompted some to suggest we may turn to the rather sparse free agent market, littered with strikers of a certain age, or those who have struggled with fitness. Value for money it is not, and last night Mark Kennedy revealed he has no plans to knock on the chairman’s door looking for a new player.
“I’m not knocking on anyone’s door saying can I have an extra player,” he said, in response to a question from BBC Radio Lincolnshire’s Rob Makepeace.
“Look, we’ve lost two. Are we bringing any more in? We’ve got, hopefully, Jack Vale, fingers crossed, will have a good week behind him with Blackburn this week. He’ll be with us next Monday, all being well. We’ll have to be really careful and creative with his minutes.”
Vale was signed on deadline day before the extent of injuries to Tyler Walker and Ben House was known. His arrival was always likely to be delayed due to his carrying an injury, and he may have been out of our price range had he been fit.
Still, Mark refused to suggest he was looking for another face, instead complimenting the board on giving him more than he asked for, citing the arrival of Ethan Erhahon as an example of the board’s proactive attitude when it comes to player transfers.
“I think the board and I have a brilliant relationship in that they’ve been incredibly supportive of me this year and last year,” he added.
“I’ve never gone knocking on the door saying, ‘Can I have this, can I have that’ because I don’t work like that. Equally, I think the board has been really proactive, positive, supportive, and fair. I didn’t ask for Ethan Erhahon, but they said to me ‘Mark, we’ve got a player here who is really talented; we’ve got money available if you think he’s the right player for us.”
To conclude, he left us in no doubt as to where he is in terms of the squad, finishing by saying, “To answer your question, we haven’t got planned talks, I’m getting on with what I’ve got and I’m quite happy with that.”
Given the names on the free agent list, it isn’t such a bad thing we’re not rushing to make a knee-jerk signing. If Jack Vale can get fit, he’s due for a prolonged spell in the team, whilst the likes of Jovon, Danny Mandroiu, and Reeco Hackett are also able to play through the middle.
It’s not ideal, but I do like the pragmatic attitude of our head coach rather than turning to a victim mentality. Which is what I had when I heard the news!
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