Declan Caddell provides potential injury return timeline for several Crusaders stars
Crusaders manager Declan Caddell admits this weekend’s break comes at a good time for his side with a number of key players nursing injuries.
The Crues navigated their way past third-tier Ballymacash Rangers in the BetMcLean Cup on Tuesday evening, but have seen their Premiership schedule impacted by postponements.
With last Friday’s clash against reigning champions Linfield called off due to Storm Amy and this weekend’s North Belfast derby showdown with Cliftonville postponed due to international call-ups, Crusaders will have waited three weeks between league matches when they travel to Bangor on September 18.
It has been a mixed start to the campaign for Crusaders, who currently sit in 11th, 10 points better off than bottom side Glenavon.
Their previous league match ended with a 2-0 victory at the Lurgan Blues and the Seaview outfit have now put together a three-game unbeaten run across all competitions.
Caddell is currently operating without several star players, including the likes of Jordan Forsythe, Ross Clarke and Jacob Blaney, and he has provided a timeline for their potential return.
"Long-term is a lengthy list and it would take me a while going through them,” he told the club’s media channel. “I'm expecting Jordan Forsythe, Stewart Nixon, Ross Clarke back at the same time, maybe three or four weeks.
"Jacob Blaney will be four to six weeks and then you have Kieran (McKechnie), Harry (Jewitt-White) and Robbie later.
"We're navigating week to week, trying to get fit bodies out there to pick up results. We've managed to do that over the last three or four weeks and performances have shown that.
"We have to make sure we're ready for the next game away to Bangor, we found it really difficult down there earlier in the season and it'll be a different type of game. We'll enjoy our break and then plan for Bangor."
While trying to build momentum is difficult with their current schedule, Caddell is also thankful for the opportunity a short break is providing his squad as they look to get back to full health.
"It's difficult,” he added. “You're looking to build momentum and we struggled at the start of the season with that.
"Our performances against Dungannon, Ballymena and Glenavon, you're looking to continue that on. It was disappointing the Linfield game was off but (the Ballymacash game) gave us a chance to shake off a bit of the cobwebs before the break.
"We're going to have to do the same with the Cliftonville match (being off). At the same time, the break is good.
"The boys have been flogged, we'd 12 at training (on Monday) with the injury list, so they've been soldiering on. It'll be nice to get a couple days breather and allow boys to get back to full fitness."