Centre rocked by hand injury

OLDHAM’S on-loan centre Jon Ford is facing up to six weeks on the sidelines.

OLDHAM have suffered a major blow with the news from Salford Red Devils that loan centre Jon Ford will be out for four to six weeks with a damaged hand.

It was initially thought he had dislocated a finger while training with the Super League club - his full-time employers - but the latest bulletin indicates the is more serious.

“It sounds as though he broke a bone,” said Oldham coach Scott Naylor. “We’ve been told it will be four

to six weeks before he’s available again.”

Unlucky Ford (21) has scored seven tries in eight games for Roughyeds this season, to take his total to 41 in 39 club appearances — an outstanding record.

He hurt a knee in Oldham’s home defeat by North Wales and missed the Oxford game, but returned to the side at Swinton to produce his best performance of the season for Roughyeds.

Former Salford prop Neal picked up a stomach bug after the Swinton game that was still bothering him in training last night. He remains a doubt for tomorrow’s game against Gloucester All Golds in Cheltenham.

Apart from Ford, Neal and long-term injury victims Steven Nield and Tom Ashton, everyone else is fit.

Among them is new boy David Hewitt, the 19-year-old half-back from St Helens, now at Whitebank on loan and waiting for his first outing.

Naylor said: “Gloucester is a strange team for us. We always seem to struggle against them. It’s a long journey and it’s never an easy place to go to. It’s going to be a tough one.”

The All Golds’ last win was 66-6 at home to Coventry in mid-May, since which they have lost four games in a row.