Hemel Hempstead boss says injuries are like a 'tornado' as awful run continues

​After being top of the league and unbeaten ten games into the season, the Tudors have nosedived to 17th in the league, six points above the play-off places, and haven’t won any of their last 13 National League South games with 11 of those being defeats.

A 5-0 loss at Salisbury City on Saturday was their ninth defeat in a row in all competitions, although all of the hosts’ goals came in the last 20 minutes, and speaking to the club’s media after the game, Wilkinson says it’s proving an incredibly challenging time for all.

He said: “I’ve always said I don’t really talk about injuries but you can see my side is completely torn apart at the moment. Last Monday [7-1 defeat to Dorking] we only had two players on the pitch that had played in our last victory against Slough.

"So it’s very difficult at the moment and a really big challenge. We competed really well for 70 minutes today and then we’ve given away a really sloppy goal again and you’ve got to take ownership.

"We had one or two back out there today but we’ve had 13 injuries and I lost another two on Monday night, and sometimes I think people do need to know the truth.

"We’re going through an absolute tornado at the moment with injuries, although it’s no excuse sometimes with some of the goals we’re conceding.

"We played two lads today who should never have played but we were just trying to make numbers up.

"Luckily now we don’t have a league game for two weeks and can hopefully bring five or six back, but we’ve got some out for several weeks and whilst I never like to say it, you’ve got people who comment online who have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes. All I will say is that when I had my first choice starting eleven, we were top of the league.”

​Hemel were due to host Hitchin Town in a county cup tie on Tuesday night, after this week’s Gazette went to press, their next game then not being until second-from-bottom Weymouth are the visitors on Saturday, December 14.

Wilkinson added: “I run the ship and at the moment it’s sinking with injuries but I’ll be in the office tomorrow and I’ll be working hard and hopefully we will have a proper side back on the pitch on the 14th because we do know we’ve got three or four coming back, although we’ll still be lacking a few as well.”

The Hemel boss also took time to praise the fans who got behind their team despite the result on Saturday.

He said: “I’ve got to single out the fans who were absolutely brilliant. You can see they’re disappointed but facts don’t lie – we are inundated with injuries. Where a lot of teams might get five or six, this has never happened to me [so many injuries in one go] so this is new territory for me right now so I’m learning a lot.

"But when you’re picking a side you can only pick what’s available. Even the youngsters – little Kombe Kawimbe gave away the pass for the first goal and he’s crying in there now and I truly feel for him.

"Would he normally be playing week in, week out? No, but we have to use him at the moment.

"Brad Roberts is another youngster who came on and did really well, and some of them have come out and shown a lot of credit when most of our leaders aren’t on the pitch.”