United lose McGurk for a month
Cambridge United manager Shaun Derry has suffered two more injury blows ahead of an important week for the club.
Cambridge United manager Shaun Derry has suffered two more injury blows ahead of an important week for the club.
United travel to Crawley in the Skybet League Two tomorrow and are then away to Dover in their televised FA Cup replay on Thursday night.
Joe Pigott, who was forced off with a head wound against Scunthorpe in the Checkatrade Trophy clash on Tuesday night, will miss the trip to Crawley and has also been ruled of the tie at Dover because of the rules governing concussion victims.
But worse for Derry is the loss of striker Adam McGurk for a further month. McGurk, injured against Portsmouth a fortnight ago, has suffered a tear in his thigh.
Derry said: “Joe had five stitches and concussion. With the new rules and regulations unfortunately we will miss him for tomorrow and Thursday. With concussion you have to give them two day’s complete rest and then a seven-day recovery process. It is a blow to us.
“Sadly for Adam and ourselves he had an MRI scan yesterday and it showed he had a grade two tear in his thigh so what we thought was a dead leg has turned into an injury which will keep him out for another month.”
Derry wants his players to live like monks over the next few weeks when United’s fixtures see them playing tomorrow, Thursday, next Saturday and then the following Tuesday.
Four games in 10 days will put an extra strain on Derry’s strength in depth and he wants his players to use the rest and recovery to the full.
He added: “In terms of the schedule, it is chaotic to say the least. It is a really busy month-and-a-half. The players need to make the biggest sacrifices and that means living life like monks, it is a case of eating and sleeping and getting as much rest and recovery as they can.”
First up though is a trip to Crawley and Derry is under no illusions about the task ahead. United sit just off the relegation places while Crawley are 10th in the table.
Derry added: “They have a good home record and have some good players. So, it is going be a tight game but it is a tight league. Six points will take you in the top seven. We want to go there and perform. But we know they have the same optimistic outlook.”