Gosport Borough not ready to take a ‘risk’ over injured top scorer Dan Wooden ahead of Southern League trip to Merthyr

The striker picked up knee and thigh injuries after colliding with a post during last weekend’s 2-1 home Privett Park victory over Tiverton Town.

Wooden’s ninth league goal of the campaign proved to be the decider as Boro - having lost nine of their previous 10 Southern League Premier South games - claimed a crucial three points in Molesley’s first game in charge.

Molesley told The News that Wooden is ‘very doubtful’ for this Saturday’s league trip to south Wales to face Merthyr on an artificial surface.

And with some huge games on the horizon, he won’t gamble on any player’s fitness - understandable given Boro are currently without Andreas Robinson, Matt Briggs and Pat O’Flaherty.

‘Games are coming thick and fast now,’ said Molesley. ‘We want to try and get as many points as quickly as we can, but we won’t take any risks.

‘We need a short-term fix, but we can’t ignore the long-term plan.

‘Dan Wooden doesn’t easily come off, his injury was a nasty one.’

If Wooden is ruled out, Brett Williams could be deployed as a lone striker. Since arriving from AFC Totton, Williams - who played under Molesley at Weymouth - has struck four times in three league games.

Having beaten one top 10 outfit in his opening match in Tiverton, Molesley now faces another two in a row - at Merthyr and home to table-topping Weston-super-Mare.

After that, though, comes four successive games against clubs currently alongside Gosport in the bottom seven - Hartley Wintney (A, Dec 26), Winchester (H, Jan 2), Plymouth Parkway (A, Jan 7) and Yate Town (H, Jan 14).

Molesley doesn’t expect midfielder Robinson, sidelined with a foot injury, to be back ‘any time soon’ while centre half Briggs is another who won’t be rushed back into action.

Merthyr are unbeaten in their last four league games - winning the last two - but have suffered five home Southern League defeats in 2022/23.

Against that, Gosport have a woeful away record with nine defeats in 10 Premier South trips.

Their only points away from Privett Park this season came with a 1-0 win at Hampshire rivals Winchester at the end of August.

*Molesley, meanwhile, fielded a very youthful XI in last night’s 3-1 Portsmouth Senior Cup win against four tiers lower Clanfield at Privett Park.

Harry Kavanagh was the only first team squad regular on show as the holders booked a place in the last eight.

‘It was a really worthwhile exercise,’ declared Molesley. ‘I learnt a lot more about the players coming through. The club is in a good state with the youngsters.

‘There needs to be a pathway to the first team and this was a first team fixture.

‘From a selfish point of view, I wanted to see the youngsters and learn a bit about them.

‘The academy coaches are doing a good job.’