Roughyeds hit by double injury setback

Adam Clay: broken ribs.

WITH the promotion battle heading for its peak, Oldham rugby club has been told right winger Adam Clay has broken two ribs and may not play for up to six weeks.

In a double whammy for the League One leaders, left-winger Jack Holmes’s strained foot will keep him out of Sunday’s trip to Hemel Stags and possibly the following game at Newcastle Thunder.

Clay is the Roughyeds’ top try scorer this season with 19; Holmes is on second with 14.

Oldham coach Scott Naylor: “Only time will tell how long Adam is going to be out. He’ll be ready to play again when he has no pain. That could be a week or it might be six weeks. There’s just no way of telling.

“Everything depends on how much pain he’s in, and for how long.

“We’ll keep an eye on Jack, but he might miss the next two games. He made it worse by playing on it against Keighley after going down in the warm-up. He and I felt it was the right decision at the time. He was determined to play in a very important game. You have to admire him for that.”

On a brighter note, Naylor confirmed that centre Tom Ashton, out for more than three months with damaged knee ligaments, is fit and available for selection.

Assuming he will play, Naylor will require one more player from Tom Dempsey, David Hewitt, Will Hope, Richard Joy and Elliot Liku to complete his 17-man squad.

But he said he might go further in pursuit of squad rotation: “It’s hard for the same lads to keep performing at their top level. There are benefits in allowing players to rest.”