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Easter KO for Paul

Dave Lawrenson
20/ 3/2008

SALFORD City Reds have been told that they will have to make do without Kiwi superstar Robbie Paul for their first three National League One games.

The close season half back signing had hoped to be passed fit for Salford’s League One opener at Leigh, which will be shown live on Sky Sports tonight, Thursday, March 2, kick-off 6pm.

But the surgeon who operated on Paul’s back problem in January gazumped those hopes in a consultation session this week.

The surgeon is ‘more than happy’ with the progress that Paul is making as he nears a return to full fitness.

But he has set the Reds’ Northern Rail Cup last 16 home tie with Bramley Buffaloes or Warrington Wizards, which is likely to be played on Friday night, April 4, as a more realistic comeback date.

Head coach Shaun McRae said: "I’ve always suspected that the Leigh game would come too soon for Robbie. It is disappointing that he will miss the Leigh game as well as the next two games against Featherstone and Batley. But the main thing is that Robbie is back in full contact training, is feeling no pain or discomfort in his back and he will be back playing again soon.

"Until then, Stefan Ratchford and Richard Myler have already proven that they can cover for Robbie’s absence. They both have a lot of talent and they have both been playing well for us. But they, like the rest of the team, are about to come under a lot more pressure.

"We are stepping up to League One sides now and it is a big step up from what we have played against so far this season. It will be interesting to see how Ratchford, Myler and the rest of the players handle playing against better and more experienced teams."

Paul is the only Red sidelined through injury going into the Easter double-header at Leigh and then at home to Featherstone on Easter Monday, March 24, kick-off 3pm.

And McRae is tipping his team to make a positive start to the league season.

McRae said: "We have done a lot of work building up to the League One season. Our fitness conditioner Andy Haigh has got the players in great shape and, although our Northern Rail Cup group wasn’t ideal in that we were only given one tough game, we are as ready as we are ever going to be.

"We obviously want to get our campaign off to a good start and we all believe that we can do that.

"But it is not going to be easy. We need to step up our intensity, play to structure more than we have been doing and show patience and composure. That is the key to dealing with the step up in quality."

McRae is planning to field the same team against Leigh that brushed aside Rochdale 68-0 in the Northern Rail Cup on Sunday.

But he may opt to make a few changes for the Featherstone game to protect players from what he considers to be an overly-demanding Easter period.

McRae said: "I’ve never been a fan of playing two games over Easter. It asks too much of the players.

"But we just have to get on with it. We have got the players fit and strong and we should be able to handle the two games as well as anyone else.

"In fact, we have an extra day to prepare for the Featherstone game as they play on Friday.

"I don’t know a lot about Featherstone. They are a bit of an unknown quality as I haven’t seen them play too much. But I expect them to give us a tough game as any side in League One must be a decent team.

"I know more about Leigh. They have recruited very well in bringing in players like Dennis Moran, Ian Watson, Toa Kohe-Love and Mike Wainwright.

"They have a lot of experience in key positions and are rightly seen as one of the favourites for the title.

"It is a difficult start to the season for us but this is what we have been waiting a long time for. We believe that we are ready for it but we will just have to see how it goes."