Charles to see surgeon to find extent of injury (From This is Hampshire)

Charles to see surgeon to find extent of injury

8:47am Thursday 9th February 2012 in Hampshire Sport By Adam Summers

BRIDPORT ace Sam Charles will discover the full extent of his knee problem on February 17.

The ex-Weymouth forward, who has already dislocated a shoulder this season, suffered the injury in the 3-0 home defeat against Hallen on January 7.

Bees' boss Trevor Senior said: “Sam’s big date is February 17.

“That is when he will go and see a surgeon to find out the full extent of the injury.

“It looks like cruciate ligament damage but to what degree we do not know.

“He may not need an operation but we will know more on that day.

“Fingers crossed it isn’t too bad.”

Another Bridport player that has struggled with injuries this season is Dan Peart but his persistent back problem appears to be on the mend.

Senior added: “Dan turned 18 on Monday and I am glad to say he is not far away from getting some minutes under his belt.

“He picked up the injury in pre-season when he over stretched for the ball. He didn’t really notice it at the time but it is something that has troubled him ever since.

“He has been undergoing physio and suffered no reaction when he returned to light training recently, so hopefully it has been sorted out now and he can get back to enjoying his football.”

The Bees will travel to fellow strugglers Barnstaple Town on Saturday and Senior is hoping for a positive result following last weekend’s postponement against Street.

He said: “Last Saturday was disappointing as we really wanted to play on our own patch again.

“We have only had one home game so far this year and that was against Hallen.

“Our next one isn’t until February 25, which is still a couple of weeks away, and we could do with the revenue.

“The fact we also have a free weekend on the 18th makes it even more frustrating but at the end of the day you cannot account for the weather.

“All we can do now is focus on Barnstaple and look to go there and get a result.

“When we played them earlier in the season at home I didn’t think they were particularly great and was disappointed to see us lose 1-0 to a late winner after missing several chances.

“Former Dorchester Town striker Owen Pickard is their manager and it is one of our longest trips as well but it is certainly a winnable game and that is exactly the attitude we will be going there with.

“Longwell Green Sports are our next opponents after that so we should be looking to pick up some points over the next couple of weeks.

“I have always thought 40 points would definitely be enough to see us safe and at the moment we are on 22 with 12 games to go.

“I have every confidence we will not end up in the bottom two but until you get those points on the board, mathematically, there is always that chance.”

The Bees currently sit fifth-bottom in the Toolstation Western Premier Division, eight points above the drop-zone.

However, they have played more games than three of the four teams below them, with Barnstaple holding two in hand in 15th, where they lie just two points adrift.