Injury and fitness concerns for Caddis ahead of Spennymoor trip

Paul Caddis hopes Kyle Howkins will be back training tonight

Hereford could be a patched-up side when they head to Spennymoor Town on Saturday, with manager Paul Caddis opening up about "bumps and bruises".

Spennymoor, sitting 11th in the league having won three, lost three and drawn one of their opening games, could be a tough test for the Bulls as they've scored 13 goals so far - the joint second-highest in National League North behind Hereford with 14.

It could be even tougher as there could be a few players with knocks playing on Saturday.

After Tuesday's 1-0 home defeat to Needham Market where Caddis made four changes to the side that beat Brackley Town 2-1, the gaffer said centre-back Kyle Howkins had not been training.

He said he was hopeful he would be back on the training ground tonight (Thursday) having come off at the end of the Radcliffe home draw, adding: "We'll take it from there.

"We're hoping that. He's still got a bit of discomfort there, it's the same with some of the other lads. We made a few changes tonight (Tuesday), we were almost forced into it.

"Ahkeem (Rose) hadn't done a pre-season, he's done for 90 minutes in 11 days. Ceesay, again, hasn't done pre-season, he's had a bit of a knee issue.

"Laws (D'Ath) played Saturday with a calf, with a tight calf."

He added: "We've got to try and look after the squad when we can."

When asked about injury woes ahead of Saturday, Caddis said he hoped to have a "decent enough number" of players to pick from.

"We've got a couple of bumps and bruises to be honest. There's quite a few in there, we'll have to try and get them back in Thursday and manage the load and see where we can go from there."

Last week, Caddis also talked about Dan Preston's tight groin and Montel Gibson not having had a proper pre-season

Caddis also said that striker Jason Cowley, who has been out with an injury picked up pre-season, was back on the training pitch with the physio team but not the main squad.

He hoped two weeks there, then two weeks build-up, and he could be near a return to competitive action.