TITLE aspirants Rhyl will be without five key players when they take on Port Talbot at the Remax Stadium today chasing their first win there in four visits.
Rocked by last week’s wounding 2-1 defeat by Bangor City at Belle Vue, the third-placed Lilywhites can ill-afford to come home empty handed again if they are to fulfil their dream of reclaiming the Premier League crown.
“It’s going to be another tough call down there, especially with so many leading players out injured or suspended,” conceded Rhyl’s assistant manager Paul Rowlands. Striker Lee Hunt begins the second of his three-match ban after being red-carded against Bangor and joining him on the absentee list are injured Jimmy Kelly, Carl Ruffer, Craig Garside and James Brewerton.
“It is a big slice of the squad to be without especially on a ground where we have lost our last three appearances.
“They are a decent young side with a change of manager recently and although we beat them 1-0 in the Welsh Cup at our place on November 3, they will be waiting for us to try to turn that result around,” said Rowlands.
Rhyl recovered dented confidence after the Bangor blow by toppling Llangefni Town 5-2 in midweek to book their place in the semi-final of the Loosemore’s Cup.
“We went about it very well although the pitch didn’t make it easy for either side,” added Rowlands.
“It was difficult to string three decent passes together and you couldn’t describe it as footballing spectacle. We got the result we wanted and now we will need to be at the top of our game if we are to come away with anything.”
Rhyl will rely on the same squad that delivered at Llangefni including hat-trick ace Andy Moran while fit-again keeper John Gann is set for his first appearance for over a month with the reserves in their Cookson Cup tie at home to Conwy United.
