Peterborough Sports hope to have key men back for a tough trip to high-flying Kidderminster Harriers.
Peterborough Sports joint-boss Michael Gash admitted his side were a little off the pace as they went down 2-1 in their National League North match at Marine on Saturday.
Gash fired Sports into an early lead from a corner, but Sports conceded two set-piece goals so left Merseyside with nothing to show for their efforts.
The city side are 12th and have six games left to secure a first top-half finish at this level. They have a tough one at promotion-chasing Kidderminster Harriers next Saturday when Sports hope to have former Peterborough United youngster Will Van Lier and key man Dan Jarvis back from injury.
Jarvis was actually named in the starting line-up at Marine, but dropped to the substitutes’ bench after his heavily strapped ankle proved troublesome in the warm-up. Van Lier also missed the game with an ankle injury. Goalkeeper Peter Crook is not expected back for another couple of weeks at least after suffering a concussion injury and on-loan defender Justin Osagie has returned to parent club Posh because of injury.
Sports had to reshuffle their side at the last minute with striker Mark Jones replacing Jarvis.
"It was always touch and go for Dan,” Gash said. “He was going to start, but his ankle didn’t feel right when warming up so he dropped to the bench. He will hopefully be okay for a very tough game next weekend when Will could also return. It’s a tough game at Kidderminster, but it’s a game to look forward to. We played in front of almost 2,000 at Marine and it will be another big crowd for sure this weekend which we will enjoy.
"We started off well at Marine. We got the early goal, but then we went off it a bit and they had a good spell and equalised. We had another dip in the second half and conceded from another set-piece. It was disappointing to lose to two set-pieces as there was very little in the game otherwise. Both goalkeepers made a good save apiece in what was a very physical game, but there weren’t many more scoring opportunities.
"We played okay, but the decision-making when attacking wasn’t great and we didn’t attack the crosses into their penalty area well enough.”
On-loan Sheffield United forward Alfie Atherton came closest to scoring for Sports who gave a debut to on-loan Lincoln City goalkeeper Jamie Pardington.
The remaining six matches for Sports include a mouthwatering Easter Monday game at leaders Scunthorpe who attracted over 8,000 to their top-of-the-table win over Chester on Saturday.
The city side also have games left against Leamington (home), Alfreton (away) and Needham Market (home) before tackling Scarborough Athletic at PIMS Park on the final day of the season on Saturday, April 26.